Lew, this is always the first tactic of governments every time they’re faced with a slightly smaller rate of growth than they want (there are rarely any actual cuts, of course). They threaten to cut police and fire service. Or they threaten to cut roads maintenance.
For centuries, governments have told us that they are the only agency that can provide police protection and roads. And then, as soon as they face moderating growth those are the first thing they threaten to cut. They never threaten to cut the bloated salaries of officials, or the many handouts to interest groups, or the arts budget or any of the other services that even statists would classify as non-essential. Nope, it’s always public safety and roads that goes on the chopping block first.
And the gullible voters fall for it every time.
11:25 pm on May 18, 2009
