Chump Change for Chumps

   

Seems the gas-guzzler tax will not fly; at least not during this session.  This is the good news.  The bad news is that Montpelier is considering a seat belt law as a quid pro quo for a couple of million in federal dollars.  This is the way government – especially the nanny-state segment -- works; by a system of payoffs that are designed to put distance between the tax collector and the people who spend the money. 

    The federal government doesn’t have magic money.  If it has three million to give to Vermont (admittedly, this is not even pocket change to the Feds) then the money has to have been raised either through taxes or borrowing.  Vermonters pay federal taxes and their children will be stuck with the federal debt.  So we are, in essence, being bribed with our own money.  Which makes us look like chumps.  If we are entitled to the cash, then it should be with no strings attached.
    It is possible that Vermont might make out on the exchange – that is, the state may get more back from Washington than it sends down there – but it is still a lousy way to do business.  Should people in, say, New Jersey, pay a little extra so Vermont can buy some new buses and, incidentally, start busting people for not wearing seat belts?
    New Jersey, for one thing, has problems enforcing its own mandatory seat belt law.  If the chief enforcement officer doesn't follow this particular law then, maybe, it isn't enforceable short of authoritarian measures.  Still, seat belts undeniably save lives, and there are good communitarian vs. libertarian arguments to be had over the wisdom of legislating their mandatory use.  But passing such a law because there is some “free” money in it amounts to one more surrender, however small, of Vermont’s sovereignty and looks like groveling.