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Thursday, May 27, 2010

"We'll probably have a tax increase but I won't like it very much"

Some 40-odd years ago I was living in Austin with my brother and his wife, Rita. I was home one day studying when Rita stormed in angrily because she had just learned that the United States was defoliating South Vietnam with napalm and that she had discovered the napalm was manufactured by Dow Chemical Co. She announced quite defiantly that from that day forward the household would boycott any and all products manufactured by Dow.

I listened to her rant, watched her march off into the kitchen and went back to my books. A few minutes later she came out and said "Pete, do we actually use anything made by Dow?" I told her that yes, she used a lot of Saran Wrap (which was made by Dow in those days while today it's a product of S.C. Johnson). She turned without saying anything and went back into the kitchen. About five minutes later she emerged and told me "OK, I'm going to continue to use Saran Wrap, but I won't like it very much."

Rita and her Saran Wrap come to mind when I read stories like this one, in which Da Mayor says he is absolutely, positively mortified by the idea of a tax increase. Oh, he could still vote against it when it the final Dallas city budget is adopted in September, as long as he is not the deciding vote. I'm guessing we're going to have a property tax increase but Da Mayor won't like it very much.

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