[speaker001:] all right are we paying too much in taxes and are we getting what we pay for what's your opinion
[speaker002:] well it's kind of a broad subject uh I I think there are some areas where we where we uh pretty well you know get our money's worth but I I I also think there are a lot of areas especially in uh big government federal government uh where we're we're short changed uh lot of money spent for uh things that are not used and I don't know I was I was in the Air Force and out of it there were there was equipment at every base I was ever on that was just going to waste it was just sitting and rusting and you know it
[speaker001:] okay I I tend to agree with you when it comes to government spending there are so many studies done that don't mean anything
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] but we'll spend hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars on
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and it's nice to know something doesn't work or something doesn't exist but it could be put to more practical use
[speaker002:] yeah and I I think that uh it's a a tone of our times that politicians uh are into themselves more than they are into you know doing something worthwhile for the people they represent which which is really unfortunate
[speaker001:] that is true I agree with you in that area um I have a tendency to I'm in from Texas and I read you know how our politicians voted each week in the paper
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and it's you know it's interesting how the votes vary and what they ran on in platform
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] don't necessarily come true in their voting in the Senate or Congress whatever
[speaker002:] and don't really respond to uh people who write them and call them and uh you know unless they're in the limelight and under pressure so yeah I think we get short changed on that
[speaker001:] right that's very true what state what state do you live in
[speaker002:] Texas
[speaker001:] okay what do you think about Robin Hood
[speaker002:] now that well I work for school district and uh it's it has hurt us a lot um there has to be some way I think to equalize education opportunities but um at you know our uh we we tend to think I think this especially big government tends to think that the solution to everything is to throw money at it and I don't you know that's just not true I don't think the you know I don't think money is gonna take the place of intelligence or uh problem solving skills uh I think there there are too many things that money can't uh that can't that money can't buy that that are important as far as education is concerned
[speaker001:] that's true what school district do you work for
[speaker002:] Richardson
[speaker001:] okay I work for Plano so we're comparable as a matter of fact I just paid my Richardson taxes because I live in Richardson and
[speaker002:] oh great okay yeah
[speaker001:] supplemented the Robin Hoods very thoroughly I think
[speaker002:] yeah I think we've uh
[speaker001:] our taxes went up tremendously
[speaker002:] we yeah we've got it on the line don't we
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] and it's not gonna get any better don't I mean you know it just keeps going up and up and up uh I used to live in the Plano school district and uh there was a an organization a taxpayers organization that uh finally communicated the message to I think to the people in Plano that you know we didn't want our taxes raised
[speaker001:] yes I remember that was about four five years ago
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] but this you know this uh I think living in Richardson we're kind of spoiled because I think we get we come closer to getting our money's worth as far as the city is concerned I think then probably any city any city in the country
[speaker001:] yes well did you read in the Dallas paper where they increased the teachers the administrators' pay by thirty three percent
[speaker002:] is that incredible
[speaker001:] after they laid off all those teachers
[speaker002:] that's a that's the biggest mess I've ever heard of you know how can you how can you justify raising anybody's salary if you you know if you have to lay people off
[speaker001:] right but you know I'm not gonna complain because Plano got we all got a pay raise this year
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you all got a pay raise this year am I correct
[speaker002:] yeah well yeah the I think teachers did uh did and I don't know about administrators I I'm semiretired and I was I was an administrator so I I you know I don't get a raise anymore I just
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] uh I work part time and just get uh you know my pay doesn't change
[speaker001:] are you on the early retirement
[speaker002:] yes
[speaker001:] oh are you enjoying it
[speaker002:] yes very much uh course I still I still work two part time jobs so it's not really total retirement
[speaker001:] hm  well it's interesting you know because when you look at what Richardson has done with the early retirement you