As Tip O'Neill told it - seen here often as "A Day in the life of Joe Taxpayer"

[zbdent]

I've seen the versions bopping around here, and I always knew I had seen it attributed to Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, former Speaker of the House of Representatives. I finally found my copy, which was on the back cover of the AFSCME Public Employee Magazine, January/February 2003 issue.

I've seen that it has been modified through the years, but here's how it appeared on that publication:

A constituent of mine woke up one morning and turned on the radio to listen to the weather report, provided by the National Weather Service. He heard a snow plow go by, clearing his street. He made a cup of coffee with clean water (assured by the Clean Water Act). He also cooked up some eggs and bacon - food products that were certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; he didn't worry for a moment that his family might be poisoned.

The man kissed his children goodbye as they waited for the bus to take them to the public elementary and high schools. His oldest daughter, who wanted to go to college, was applying for government financial-aid loans; so on his way to the subway, he dropped her application letters in the mailbox. He passed the senior housing where his mother resided - and where she received a monthly Social Security check, high-quality health care paid for by Medicare, and a secure, warm environment to live in. Half the cost of the subway ride he took to the airport was subsidized by state and federal transportation funds. He flew to Washington to see me on a plane whose safety was ensured by Federal Aviation Administration inspectors and a flight made safe by federally operated security checkpoints. On his way to the Capitol, he stopeed for an hour to enjoy the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History (no admission fee).

Then the man went to his meeting with me. He burst into my office complaining that "I never get anything for my tax dollars!"

[theoldman]

1. It's the fault of the Liberals.

If the Conservatives had been in control, none of these things would exist.

[zbdent]

2. If the conservatives had their way ...

the enzymes that formed life here on Earth would never have been near the electrical storms ...

I doubt that God would have even created the Earth ... "Eh ... why bother ... I like things the way they are ..."

[lyonn]

3. Exactly, people don't get the "bottom line"

We can't let the corps run this country.

The reubs are the first to cry foul when they lose their job or home....,.