Novelist James Michener in Parade, November 26, 1991:

The best money I have spent in my life was not that used to make me either happier or more comfortable, but the taxes I have paid to the various governments under which I have lived. In general, governments have spent their share of my money more wisely and with better results than I have spent my own funds, and one aspect of my life about which I am most ashamed is that I spent most of a decade living in three states that had no state income tax—Texas, Florida, and Alaska—and the deficiencies that the first two suffered because of that lack were evident daily. I like states like New York, Massachusetts, and California, which do tax and spend their income wisely.

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