A tax by any other name is still a tax

It’s just a little thing, but might I ask you folks at the Herald to start talking about taxes like they are real? You refer in your articles to grants from the federal government and cost sharing as though there is no cost to us, the taxpayers, and it obscures reality. How about saying “this project will cost the taxpayer X dollars” instead of “the state will have to pay 20 percent, or 50 percent. The rest is coming from the federal treasury”.

Every dime spent by government, be it city, county, state or federal, be it loan, shared cost, grant or in kind, is tax money and comes out of the taxpayers’ pockets. In my case it costs me $200 a week in direct taxes to live in this country with its governmental divisions both state and federal that will not face up to their responsibilities and take care of business. That’s just the direct taxes. It doesn’t include the sales tax, gasoline tax, tollway fees, licensing fees, Social Security, etc.

I’m fortunate, since I am retired. Working people pay a whole lot more. Let’s stop talking about federal money as though it costs us nothing. Let’s talk about the reality that all taxes come out of our individual pockets no matter what they are called, and that resorting to borrowing is no better. It just means that someday our children and their children will have to pay. How about it?

Robert C. Williams

Rolling Meadows