In the news today, the governor of NJ and his Department of Environmental Protection have stated their belief that the state can not afford to continue a water testing program that seeks to identify the level of perchlorate in our drinking water. NJ is, of course, in the midst of a budget crisis of the first magnitude so almost any idea that claims to save tax money will be considered.
Another approach to this never-ending problem of government in any society would be to determine what it is we want done and then figure out a way to pay for it. The present system seems to work the other way; figure out what we have to spend and then fit our needs into that amount. Much of what a government would provide would be agreed to by almost everyone; police, fire, sanitation, education. We should debate the rest and determine the level of each service we want, then determine a way to pay for it. Be that income, sales, property tax or some other means of generating revenue.
