No pain, no gain

That's a phrase that's usually applied to those seeking to improve their health and/or appearance through exercise and/or a change in eating patterns.

But it's equally true in politics.

I have no recollection of where I read this, but some time back, a Catholic nun complained that many pro-life supporters weren't pro-life, they were just pro-birth--many of them couldn't care less what happened to the baby after she/he was born, and refused to support, for example, paid parental leave, subsidized child care, and/or government-financed medical and educational assistance for children with disabilities.

A similar problem is occurring in the United States Congress regarding the proposed health care bill--everybody wants health insurance, but if nobody is willing to pay for it, it won't exist.

We have a system for this--it's called taxation.  Sorry, folks, but, to quote another old saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."  Either we get a tax reduction, or we get to keep or expand government services, but we can't get both.

Related:

Show me the money (which includes a link, under "been there, blogged that," to "Another day older and deeper in debt")