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Show DAWSON SAYS NEW LOOK . . . Congress this year will approve a bill to give the country a new look into government gov-ernment spending policies. The committee, to be appointed by Congress and the President, will want to know not only where your tax dollar is spent, but for what? And by whom? CITIES ARE BROKE ... It used to be that cities, counties, schools and states collected and spent 77 cents of every dollar taken from the taxpayer's pocket. Now as a result of a 20-year tax revolution rev-olution 72 cents of every dollar you pay in taxes goes to Washington. Washing-ton. DRAINED DRY ... As a result, citizens are drained dry. When local lo-cal officials try to levy taxes for such vital services as schools, sewers sew-ers and water improvement programs, pro-grams, the taxpayer has little choice but to resist. His wallet already al-ready has been emptied by the scores of different taxes levied by the federal government. TRICKLE BACK . . . Only a small portion of the funds collected by Washington ever returns to the state in form of federal grants. For every $100 the federal government taxes from a state, it returns only $6.50 in grants. This is a mighty high handling fee. THE RESULT ... As a result of this policy, local officials have had to come to the federal government with pleas for the return of some of your taxes so they could keep necessary city functions operating. Each time the Washington men embarked em-barked upon one of these aid programs, pro-grams, a new building rose in the nation's capital and another new government bureau was born. SOME QUESTIONS ... I feel that many of these programs should and could be handled on a Jocal level if the money the federal fed-eral government collects and spends on them were left with state and local governments. Should the farmer in Utah be taxed to help kill a boll weevil in the heart of Texas? Is it the responsibility of the automobile mechanic in Alabama Ala-bama to help pay for an airport in Utah? FEDERAL FUNCTIONS ... We recognize that all the people should pay for the cost of the army, navy and air force. The state department is a federal function as is the post office. But there are hundreds of other bureaus spending tax funds back here whose functions could be either eliminated or performed at much less expense back home. |