Without taxes, country will come to an end

A better name for the Tea Party would be the Freeloader Party. They want to use the roads, the airports and other government services but are generally opposed to paying the taxes needed for them. They use an Internet that wouldn't exist without government-sponsored research. And when one of their kids gets seriously ill, they'll go running into the emergency room to demand all the medical treatment that took 100 years of taxpayer-funded research to develop.

The right refuses to invest in America under the selfish guise of “don't tax me.” So what if levees break, water mains explode, bridges collapse, and the country falls apart. They don't want to pay the bill.

We hear the oft-repeated fairy tale that only the private sector produces wealth and income. This fantasy, now mistaken for truth, means our infrastructure will continue to fall apart. Without investment, the American economy will continue to falter rather than recover.

This country began because the people didn't want to pay taxes, and it will end because the people don't want to pay taxes.

Roger Alton

Cedar Rapids