Border Tax?

Fox News and Opinion Dynamics released new poll results yesterday indicating that 52% of Americans would be willing to pay an additional $100 per year in taxes to defend the border. Excuse me? Am I missing something here? Is it not the first and foremost duty of the government of our nation to protect its citizens?

No one is more hawkish on border security than yours truly. I would like to see the border so tightly secured that not even a mouse could breach it. But the exorbitant taxes I already pay are, or at least should be, more than adequate to protect whatever small chunk of the border (actually borders -- the northern border needs protection, too) is my personal responsibility. Rather than assessing additional taxes to perform their first duty, I would like to direct the government to take my $100 from one of their many pork barrel earmarks -- perhaps from a study of the effects of bovine emissions on the atmosphere, or the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere".

It appears that more than half of our citizens have not read, or do not understand, the Constitution of the United States, the preamble of which guarantees our security. Notably absent from the Constitution is any passage granting our representatives the right to indiscriminately redistribute the wealth of all for the pleasures of few. The idea that it is somehow acceptable for our federal tax dollars to be used to build parking lots, museums and a multitude of other pet projects which are of questionable value even to the residents in the immediate vicinity is absurd. The federal government is seizing increasingly more power, usually without our knowledge and always without our permission. It is time to take back our nation.

Nothing is going to change if we continue to support the status quo. As long as the abuses of our freedom are shrugged off by the abused, they will continue. Communications with our representatives are answered with form letters, often form letters indicating that the content of our communication was not noted or understood. I have received such letters from more than one of my own representatives, thanking me for my support of the very issue I wrote to vehemently protest, or addressing an issue that was in no way remotely connected to my original communication. They are no longer listening to their constituents, but rather are playing the political power game -- every public action is designed to garner re-election support, every private action to further their own personal position. This is unacceptable.

As voters, it is our responsibility to know what our elected officials are doing. If we do not educate ourselves and insist on more from those we elect, we will deserve whatever crumbs they choose to toss our way.