[Superman]

Right you are, Island. And right about the proper method of disposing of a tattered United States flag. That's the only occasion on which you will see me burning one. Despite popular opinion.

Expensive, yeah. But you know, as expensive as gubmint is (I know you are all aware that I am in the public works construction industry), I wonder about the old addage "If you think education is expensive, you should consider the alternative." I notice that our highways and freeways generally do a great job of making commerce smooth and inexpensive. Truck filled with goods can move fairly freely around the nation. But then, some of us spend substantial time stuck in traffic that is barely moving. I was tempted to start a thread on the topic of whether it makes sense to be driving all those shiny late-model vehicles (I can't afford them but most folks can, apparently) on roads that are pathetically under-maintained. And what about the loss of productivity?

Setting aside the popular but false notion that there is a huge pile of money somewhere that would render taxes unnecessary, and assuming that we'd need to pay more in order to get more than we're currently getting, I wonder if it wouldn't make sense to pay a few more pennies each, and have good smooth, wide roads.

But yeah. Gubmint is expensive. Shocks, tires and our time are not?