The editorial board operates independently from the U-T newsroom but holds itself to similar ethical standards. We base our editorials and endorsements on reporting, interviews and rigorous debate, and strive for accuracy, fairness and civility in our section. What do you think? Let us know. In democracies all over the world, there is a never-ending debate over government resources, how smartly they are used and in whose interests.
When services are spotty, roads are pothole-filled and parents are disappointed with schools, complaints are sometimes taken seriously. But sometimes they lead to lectures which assert that the public is getting what it pays for — and that if citizens whine about anything, they should look in the mirror at their chintzy selves and start embracing calls for higher and/or new taxes. This has certainly been the mantra of many local and state officials in California since Proposition 13 capped property taxes in 1978. But events in recent days on both sides of the border show cynicism of another sort about government resources is also justifie