A TASL News Service Manifesto

by David Safier

(TASL) The term “manifesto” is a bit overblown to describe this post, I know. Any manifesto worthy of the name should be at least twenty pages, right? But I like the sound of the word, so “manifesto” it is.

A lot of my posts deal with that contentious place where money and education intersect, and I keep restating my belief that Arizona schools don’t get nearly the funding they need. We should devote more money to education. Lots more money.

But when I write that, someone is sure to ask, “So where are you going to get the money, smart guy? The State is not only broke, it’s in hock up to its ears!”

My answer is always the same. “Increase taxes on those who can best afford it, and spend with a wise and generous hand.” I am a classic Tax-And-Spend Liberal, and proud of it.

But writing that over and over gets old. So I decided, whenever a post is about money and education, I’ll begin the post with (TASL) – pronounced “tassel” – the acronym for my recently created Tax And Spend Liberal News Service.

I considered making the name of the News Service T(twcbai)AS(wawagh)L, so it would be clear that I want us to Tax (those who can best afford it) And Spend (with a wise and generous hand), but the longer acronym does not trip lightly off the tongue. So TASL it is.

One of my favorite lines of all times is from Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan. One of the characters, a guy named Unk, writes the following note to himself so he never forgets this all-important principle: “If the questions don’t make sense, neither will the answers.”

So, to put this discussion in the context of Unk’s maxim: The question, “Which should we fund, education or health care?” doesn’t make sense. It’s a false choice.We are a rich country. We can afford to fund both. The question, “Should we expand our schools’ Arts and Music programs or invest in English and Math education?” makes no sense either. If Art and Music are good for students, we need to figure out the best way to offer them, and spend what it takes to get there. Same with English, Math, Science, PE, and so on.

There’s an old adage, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” There’s another saying that goes something like, “When you buy something cheap, you usually get what you pay for.”

This Tax-And-Spend-Liberal want to do education well, and that means we can’t do it on the cheap. We need to spend as much as it takes to get the job done.