Longnecks and Whiskey, No Kool-Aid, Thanks

You've got the mailings. You've seen the commercials. You've heard the pitch.

Fill out your census forms. It's the law. (It is, and the Constitution gives Congress the authority to set out the "manner" of the count which means they CAN ask you all of those questions.) You want to do it because the numbers will determine who gets their "fair share" of federal tax dollars. You want to help determine where schools will be built and roads will be supported. You don't want to miss out.

The individualistic political culture of Texas is rearing its beautiful head. We don't want any more government here than we must tolerate.

Texas Lagging Among States. Rural Counties Lagging in Texas.

Apparently Texans know that there is no difference at all between a "federal" tax dollar and a state or local tax dollar. We know that there is no such thing as a government dollar. We know that government produces no products and hence makes no profits and therefore has no dollars beyond those which they take from us in the first place through taxes.

A dollar is a dollar and a federal dollar has only traveled further before it becomes useful to a Texan. We don't want someone else's dollar and we don't lie to ourselves that those dollars will be any easier to spend than a local dollar or a dollar from our own pocket directly.

We know that school decisions are made by local independent school districts under limits established by local voters with regard to bonds and debt. Feds don't build or fund or determine where schools will be built. We do locally in every state in the union.

We know that roads get built and maintained in large measure by cities, counties and states, not feds. We know that road planning is done by local area Councils of Governments (COGs) which are comprised of cities and counties dealing with regional planning.

The result is that we'll complete or ignore your census at our individual peril with regard to your legal penalties. But, don't try to sell us by greed over someone else's tax dollars and don't blow smoke up our butts by trying to convince us that a federal dollar isn't from our pockets to begin with.