Your Government In Action

Ming received a letter today from the Census Bureau alerting him to expect a letter from the Census Bureau and to not throw it away. Unless they expect Ming to loiter around the mailbox in anticipation, why not just send the next letter, form, booklet or whatever and tell him therein to not throw it away?

Now New York State wants to tax soda to both raise revenue and cut down on soda consumption to promote good health. These are mutually exclusive goals. More revenue requires more soda to be consumed. Better health means less gargling with soda and perforce less revenue.

Two years or so ago, New York State increased the convoluted instruction booklet and forms for individual income tax preparation to the degree it became telephone directory size. Now it's too expensive to send, so they create the equivalent of an Easter Egg hunt, telling you to go to the library to get the forms and instructions. How many people just now forget all about it and how does this serve to enhance their attempt to garner more taxes by not only making the filing more complicated but making the logistics more onerous as well?

One out of every seven people in this country work for the Government in one of it's many manifestations. Some are so loath to disengage from the Government mammary that they become double dippers. Twenty years in one pigeon hole and then twenty years in another. Two pensions to reward their sterling efforts.

Maybe this post should instead be entitled "Your Government Inaction"