George:

Where do people get the idea that paying taxes is a bad thing?

From words like "tax relief"which even our governor uses from time to time. I believe the continual use of words like these is a carefully planned effort to help promote the "no tax" agenda of the Republican party. This process has the Virginia Assembly in deadlock and is hurting us all. Taxes pay for services.

In states I have visited with no state tax (Vermont, for example) the services are far from satisfactory say my friends who live there. The potholes in the streets are just terrible. Sure, there is some unnecessary spending (usually pork) in government budgets and we should target those who sneak that pork in and blast them for it.

In general, however, we get what we pay for and our roads look pretty good to me in comparison to that one state where there is no state income tax. Oh, and the sales tax in that state is much higher than ours also.

Bill Abbott (electronic mail, April 13, 2004)