APRIL 15 SHOULD BE A DAY OF AMERICAN PRIDE

There are lots of good ways our tax dollars are put to use.

Paying taxes. Never has such a simple act enraged so many. But this year,
I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to identify some good things that my
paying taxes helps to bring about.

OK ... forget just the "good things." I'll focus on many of the not-
so-good things our tax dollars help to create, too.

In light of the Sept. 11 attack on America, most of us are grateful we've
got a strong military to serve and protect us. Smart bombs, aircraft
carriers and Marine privates cost money - lots of money. For sure, we've
all heard about Defense Department abuses, $900 toilet seats, $500 hammers
and the like, but it's times like these that Apache helicopters and F-16
mechanics are worth their weight in gold.

The recovery effort at Ground Zero in New York City is also a good thing.
The absolute devastation that occurred that day in lower Manhattan is
impossible to describe, but it has to be fixed. In honor of those who died,
to honor the spirit of America, to show our enemies that we might bend but
we will never break, that giant scar in everyone's heart needs to be
healed. It won't happen without an influx of federal assistance, either. In
this instance, our tax dollars are being well spent.

There are lots of other good examples, too. Veterans benefits, dams and
levees for flood control, the Bureau of Mines, alternative sources of
energy, the Centers for Disease Control, financial assistance to third
world countries, the FBI, secondary education, the Eisenhower Interstate
Highway system, the U.S. Coast Guard, to name just a few.

But all too often, most especially around April 15, we forget the pluses
our society brings to our lives, while we concentrate on the negative, the
inane, the absurd. Take the U.S. Congress, for instance.

If you remember your 10th-grade civics lesson, you'll recall there are
three branches of government: the executive, the judicial and the
legislative. The executive branch is the president, the White House, the
Cabinet and all that follows on. The judicial branch is the court system,
from the U.S. Supreme Court on down. And the legislative branch is the
Senate and the House of Representatives.

Without reservation, the blackest of financial black holes, the darkest den
of dismal dollar-wise depravity is still the U.S. Congress. What these
folks do, all in the name of the American people, while at the same time
being paid by the American people, borders on the criminal.

If James Madison and Thomas Jefferson could only see us now. Our elected
representatives, our so-called citizen legislators who travel to Washington
to serve the greater good, do less in 180 days than a lazy house cat does
in 24 hours. Their job is to protect the little guy - the one who has no
voice, the one who can't protect himself. Truth is, if they aren't
millionaires when they step foot on the bank of the Potomac, they most
surely are when they leave. In salary, in insurance and retirement
benefits, for serving their constituents only a few short years, they can
live out their lives in relative ease.

The majority of the 535 men and women who inhabit the marble walls of
Capitol Hill are there for one simple reason. To get re-elected. Or, for
some, to get elected to an even higher office. In so doing, they've never
met a camera they didn't like. Under the guise of doing the people's
business, they preen and posture for the folks back home. Some even stay up
late and make long speeches before an empty House Chamber while the cameras
of C-Span continue to roll.

Partisanship reigns. Republicans hate Democrats. Democrats hate
Republicans. Spending tax dollars on certain members of Congress is no
different than spending tax dollars on toilet water. They end up being
flushed down the drain. The executive branch isn't without its losers, either.

The so-called war on drugs is an absolute joke. More drugs, harder drugs,
more exotic drugs are on the streets and in the schools of America than
ever before. If taxpayers demanded an accounting of the money spent on the
drug war and a list of the successes it's brought forth, they would be
astounded. The same goes for closing our borders to illegal immigrants.
Cheap labor is too big a business in this country to think the flow of
nighttime border crossings from Mexico will be stopped. Again, it's good
money - our money - being thrown after bad.

The Central Intelligence Agency needs revamping. We're paying way too much
for round-the-clock protection of former presidents and their extended
families. Contractor ripoffs of the defense establishment continue. Our
national parks are understaffed and our highways and bridges are crumbling.
But the Washington establishment continues to grow.

I've intentionally avoided the trap of discussing double taxation,
involuntary taxation, hidden taxation and disparate taxation.

Besides, Boston Harbor doesn't need any more pollution, even though tea
leaves are biodegradable. Sure, wealthy Americans pay the most taxes.
Regardless of your tax bracket, though, if you're in the 15 percent range
or the sky high 38.6 category, to see tax dollars continually squandered on
foolhardy promises is idiotic. April 15 should be a day like any other day,
a day we're proud to be Americans. A lot of folks make a habit of
complaining about the "Infernal" Revenue Service, too. Truth be known, it's
not the IRS, it's not a handful of self-centered politicians and
bureaucrats, it's us.

Until we once more get involved, until we make our elected officials once
more accountable, until we take back our government, we'll get what we
deserve. Meantime, all the huffing and puffing, all the finger-pointing and
chest thumping, won't change a darn thing.