There are certain things that every American should have access to and many of those things are best provided by our government through general taxes. Among those things are safe roads, education, medical care/insurance, telecommunications, access to the electrical grid, environmental protection, police/fire/ambulance emergency services and air traffic control. While we aren't currently providing for all those things on my personal list, we have at least been moving towards doing so over time. 

At least we were until recently. It really pains me to see basic education facilities like libraries on the chopping block. I'd sooner see cuts to Medicare than to education for our youth. Us old folks have had our shot, not that we all succeeded. It's so unfair to not give the next generations a fair chance to succeed.