Allegory
on target
By Jim Killebrew
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[January 02, 2015]
In
Saturday's edition of The Lincoln Courier, Dan Tackett wrote
of the "lack of accountability in spending taxpayers' money." Of
course he was using an allegory as a symbolic expression of a deeper
meaning through the appearing of his "ghosts", to reveal a deeper
political meaning. I was somewhat amused Mr. Tackett mentioned my
name in his apparitions because to carry the allegory effectively
the vision must see something that is only representative of the
inner thoughts of the person having them, rather than actually being
reality. That fits the bill for me since I have never been on a
street corner carrying a placard, demonstrating in protest style. |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/02/images/ads/current/Daphnes_vbc_121514.png) Nevertheless, even in Mr. Tackett's use of
psychodynamic therapy of transference he managed
to highlight sentiments I basically agree with
in regard to our little town of Lincoln. It
could be that politicians and the citizens of
the general public sometimes think differently
regarding the use of public funds. Since our
city, like all other government entities, is not
a corporation producing a product in demand on
the open market, it does not generate any cash
for self-sufficiency and economy building, but
rather is a total consumer that gobbles up as
many of other people's dollars as it can through
the collection of taxes.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/02/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Each dollar the city spends comes from someone's
pocket; collectively, through the tax structure,
each citizen must contribute to the city each
and every dollar it spends. Not just the local
taxes, but anytime the city uses state grant
money for expenditures with any project, it is
from the citizens somewhere in the state,
including Lincoln. State or federal money is
like city money; money that is obtained from the
citizens who earn it. That means the money
spent in our fair city should be spent wisely
for needed services because all the money used
is coming from some sort of tax from citizens
who earn it.
Politicians generally want some kind of physical
results that can show up on the front page of
the newspaper or the local media. For local
cities it is things like parks, sidewalks,
beatification of the center city areas to
bolster the local Chambers and the businesses
that comprise the membership. Occasional
start-up businesses are generally a plus for the
local politicians as well as an occasional newly
paved street complete with ribbon-cutting
ceremonies. For state-wide politicians the
physical accomplishments usually are on a
grander scale affecting more people, and costing
greater sums of money.
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I may be completely wrong about what the average taxpayer
wants. Rather than spending a lot of taxpayer money to gussie
up the alleyways with "streetscape" ventures, people want better
roads. People want the best police protection available.
Lincoln has that, but could always use more; more personnel,
more equipment. People want safety and security in emergency
medical situations, fire incidents, and safety issues. People
are looking for priorities that look more like common sense
decisions being made rather than ensuring another term for the
politician.
People want jobs with meaningful salaries that provide some
security for their families. People want to have businesses
that manufacture products, broaden the corporate tax base, and
provide security for careers rather than minimum wage. They
want businesses that are meaningful for them to have and hold
steady work rather than repealing those businesses that may
compete with already established businesses. In short, people
want politicians who represent them to represent them in a
practical way where they can see the politicians earnestly
planning for the needs of the people by setting priorities that
address needs more than the desires of a privileged few.
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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