2/6/2011 1:14:46 PM

Times Union: A smart use of political power

Times Union

My friend the political scientist defines politics as the authoritative allocation of scarce resources.

Since I prefer English, I'd say that while it's politics that fixes how our tax dollars are spent, it's more broadly about priority-setting. In this country, that political task falls into the hands of people we elect.

Because of politics, we get an income tax break for what we pay in mortgage interest, since we've decided that home ownership is good. Politics mandated that we lay aside money to take care of us as we age (Social Security, Medicare); politics decided tobacco is so bad for us that we should discourage its use (cigarette taxes); politics pushed down the death toll on highways (speed limits, seat belt laws, safety standards for cars). Full article