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Published Friday, February 24, 2012 in Opinion

Tell government 'no' on SPLOST

It's reported that "Cowetans pay seven-cents tax on each dollar they spend -- four cents of state sales tax, one cent of Local Option Sales Tax, one cent for an education SPLOST passed in 2011, and one cent for the SPLOST that goes to cities and the county." About $1,000 per year just to the county.

The Cato Institute stated, "According to the Tax Foundation, a median-income, two-earner family pays nearly $23,000, or roughly 38 percent of its income, each year in federal, state and local taxes."

Isn't it time we started telling government "no" to its spending?

"An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation." - John Marshall, 1819

The lottery was to fund education and now there's a shortfall for HOPE scholarships. We heard recently "the state quietly funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into two heavily criticized projects in [former Gov.] Perdue's home county."

Who makes better use of your money, you or the government? Government doesn't consider the impact on the people paying. Gasoline and food costs soar, the economy is in shambles, and home values continue to decline.

Government will spend in anticipation of revenue and that's debt. We have fire bonds, school bonds, water bonds, etc. Moreover, debt is what plagues us now, trillions in public debt. Bill Clinton said, "In a weak economy it just doesn't make sense to raise taxes."

Just because government says it wants the money doesn't mean we should give it.

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

Tell government "no" to SPLOST and force them to make do ... the people have.

Ken Schaefer

Sharpsburg