Taxes

If I didn't live in IL, my tax attitude would be to pay more for the local taxes, then less for state taxes, and then the least for the federal taxes.

Local taxes pay for the things that we use the most; local roads, schools, fire & police departments, libraries, forest preserves, etc..  State taxes in a normal state pay for state roads, national guard, prisons, etc..  Our federal taxes should pay for interstate roads, national defense, a safety net (social security), etc..

But governments are spending more & more on unnecessary things or even destructive things.  Bailing out every industry, ACORN, child care for the wealthy, etc..

A debate that is bought up in our state is that school funding should be a state function since it is unfair that wealthy suburbs spend more on their schools than poorer districts.  One of the reasons that people move to "better" suburbs is the quality of the schools, so they want to reduce the quality of good schools to the level of the other schools.

http://www.chicagoreporter.com/index.php/c/Inside_Stories/d/The_fight_about_funding

is an interesting article on the subject which delves into both sides of the argument.  One of the problems is that more money unwisely spent will not fix the problem.

MONEY, (n) A blessing that is of no advantage to us excepting when we part with it. An evidence of culture and a passport to polite society. Supportable property.