« Guillermo Fariñas: Death Before Censorship | WILLisms.com | Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 309 -- Faking Dissatisfaction. »

Quotational Therapy: Part 85 -- Grover Cleveland, Democrat.

What To Do With Surpluses-

When more of the people's substance is exacted through the form of taxation than is necessary to meet the just obligations of the Government and the expense of its economical administration, such exaction becomes ruthless extortion and a violation of the fundamental principles of a free government.

-Grover Cleveland, December 6, 1886.

Can you imagine a Democrat today making that sort of comment? Of course not. Today's Democrats don't believe that government budget surpluses should be returned to the people via tax relief; Democrats today almost unanimously believe surpluses are more of a budget windfall that ought to be used for bigger, better, and more projects and programs.

When surpluses come around once more (very likely in the next few years), which party controls Washington will matter.

In the meantime, there are budget surpluses in state capitals all around the country. How states use those surpluses will directly affect how competitive those states are, demographically and economically, compared to one another. A lower tax burden will give a state a leg up in attracting and retaining individuals and commerce. States that devote the surpluses to social engineering and other government boondoggles will create higher relative tax burdens, which will spur people to move elsewhere.

Previous Quotational Therapy Session:

Woodrow Wilson.

The right quote can be therapeutic, so tune in to WILLisms.com for quotational therapy on Monday and Friday.

Posted by Will Franklin · 27 March 2006 08:51 AM

Comments