BY SHARON MARTIN

House Speaker John Boehner, in a press conference this month, said that taxes are theft.

OK, maybe voting a raise for oneself every year or so is theft. But how about contributing to the education of our children? Is that theft?

Full retirement after a few years in office might be construed as theft, especially when one would like to eliminate, or at least privatize, Social Security.

And saving yourself from sequester pain – no furloughs or salary cuts for legislators – is most definitely theft.

But what about Medicaid? Legislators complain about the impact of the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid. What about their state-of-the-art healthcare plan, paid for with our tax dollars? Is it theft when poor people are covered but not when legislators are?

Is building roads so that goods can move from producer to market theft?

Is maintaining a police force theft?

Is equipping a fire department and training firefighters theft?

If we take taxes from citizens and give the money to warlords, it might be theft. But if we take taxes from citizens and return it to them in services and infrastructure, is that theft or is it providing for the common good?

Is providing for the common good theft?

That is the real question, isn’t it?

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer