I'm socially liberal and fiscally not necessarily conservative, but realize we can't have it all. Life's trade offs.

Many people say they are socially liberal while being fiscally conservative. I can't really say that I am fiscally conservative as I have tended to vote for most taxes (except the recent jail measure). I also support quite a bit of domestic spending for things like parks, infrastructure, social services and so forth. Rather than saying I am fiscally conservative, I do understand that lots of things in life are trade offs. We can't have it all, tho it does seem like people, on both the left and the right, tend to be spoiled in American culture. I'm not really fiscally conservative, but I do realize we can't have it all. I also realize business has to remain viable to create a paycheck. It's basically a matter of balance.

One example of a trade off is the McCleary decision about school funding in Washington State. McCleary, as well as the subsequent hike in property taxes.

Lots of people, especially on the left, applauded that decision, but now folks are saying their property taxes have jumped up this year.

In the past, Washington voters have voted against state income taxes so most of our money, for education and so forth, comes from sales and property taxes.

I was never jumping up and down demanding more funding for schools, but I do realize that schools do have legitimate needs and the job of teachers is not easy. I did vote for Bellingham's recent school bond for some school expansions in our growing city. I also have tended to vote for ongoing levies for school operation.

Now it looks like taxes are going up, but property values keep rising. Teachers need to be able to afford to live in the districts they serve. I guess I realize that there is never a totally free lunch. Much of life is trade offs.