[speaker002:] we're supposed to talk about if we agree on if we're paying too many taxes or if we're getting our monies worth out of the taxes we pay
[speaker001:] right I think it's kind of a loaded question I don't think anybody would say we should pay more I think I think most of us feel that we do pay enough
[speaker002:] no yeah I think here in Texas they're even running an ah a series right now on the news one of the news channels at night about they were like secretly um supervising people that were supposed to be working for a county here
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and they were hired by the state state so they were being paid with our tax money
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and they weren't even doing the job they were out working on other sites not doing a thing on what they were supposed to do
[speaker001:] well I I think what's happened is a lot of these state and city jobs people feel that once they get them they're entitled to them for life and they can kind of take it easy because they're protected by their unions etcetera
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] uh during my college years my mom worked for the state and she got me a summer job and when I came in I'm I was just a little eager beaver and I went through whatever work they gave me and I found people sitting around me polishing their nails and they were downright disgusted with me because I was going to come and go but they were going to live there and they didn't like me you know showing them up and finishing stuff so what they did was give me worse and worse and ugly and uglier things to do so I would just back off but and you know that's what it seemed like from the inside um it's not that no one works I think what happens is it's a personality thing and those who just like to do a job well done get to do the work for three or four freeloaders
[speaker002:] right yeah
[speaker001:] who don't do it I think I I you know I think it's a cross section of humanity it's not so much all state workers I mean it's hard to generalize like that
[speaker002:] yeah I think that we pay enough taxes and I think that if if everybody would be honest with how they dealt with the tax money if we could somehow get the same um ability to get work done and and be honest about it with our tax dollars I don't think they need to raise it and I think they'd be able to handle with what we've got I feel like here in Texas we pretty much get our monies back out of what we pay I feel very pleased with what they do they've put in you know as far as the state taxes go I don't know about our federal money I think that's all pretty I hope that they're doing better with not spending so much more than what they've got but you know you just never you can't control that but in the state here they've put in bike trails they've got really nice parks here in Texas they keep their their their lots that they own that are green and stuff they keep them really nice um their schools here are really good and updated they've got computers in the schools I'm very pleased at least with the area that we're in with how they spend their money their their they don't tax us outrageously and they seem to really give us a lot for our tax dollars they offer community classes for our kids to go to that are just very minimal minimal costs you know just cover the instructor
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] and um there lots of opportunities that you can take advantage of there are community colleges here you can take for just practically nothing um they just offer so much for I feel like what we pay in our taxes that I don't mind paying them at all
[speaker001:] apparently there's been a uh movement where I am I'm on Long Island which is a suburb of New New York City and um there's been a movement by home owners to try get their their home taxes reduced they feel their too high and there's all kind of review boards that if you feel strongly about it you can challenge your tax uh the newspapers now running an article on state universities which you know everyone kind of assume at least I did assume that you can get a good education and pay so much less than a private University
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and it seems to be more of an expose than anything I mean you hearing ghastly stories about kids who are taking four and five like five years to graduate because when they try to sign up for a class they're so over crowded they can't get in the class
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] so in order to finish all the uh requisites they have to just stay longer until they can finally get a hold of the class
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] that this this I thought was totally outrageous that they have teaching assistants well that's that's an old thing you know having graduate students teach undergrads but some of these people are you know from India and Asia and they don't speak English well enough for the students to understand now how could they possibly have someone teaching a class who is not fluent
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] and and I heard that that's true I mean that's I find that incredible that's a
[speaker002:] so you're not as pleased with your tax dollars and what they're doing in New York
[speaker001:] uh yeah well I guess I have a a private um argument argument with them I'm a substitute teacher who you know have have has raised a family my kids are older now and I'd like to work full-time and they're firing teachers left and right and the classes are getting bigger our school budgets are really down
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] maybe it's not handled real efficiently you know that's that's very likely
[speaker002:] that could be I don't know um
[speaker001:] my you know my husband's in the computer business and the schools just you know they're updating computers are the hot new thing and my husband was