One of the primary reasons to have a government is to provide for the
common good. Libraries fall under that category, just as do other items of
our physical infrastructure. Hotels do not fall under that category, nor
do farm subsidies for crops not being grown or bridges to nowhere. Let's
not get confused, here.

I agree with the basic premise, but reasonable arguments can be made
that the other items =do= fall under that category. I may not
necessarily agree with them, but there isn't a sharp line between direct
and indirect providing for the common good (nor is there agreement what
the common "good" is). It can be argued that aiding commerce is a
"common good", and for that we give tax breaks to encourage businesses
to relocate here so that the added business they bring, and the
multplier effect, end up raising more revenue than we give up directly.
The argument (for or against) is equally valid for airports as it is
for trains and hotels.

And if one of the things that makes our nation great is abundant food,
then preventing the collapse of the =system= (by letting prices fall too
low) does arguably fall under that category too.

Tax deductions =do= constitute "sucking on the government teat", since
the line between use and abuse is so fuzzy.

Jose
--
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