Most folks call this “Tax Day” and, let’s face it, no one enjoys paying their dues for living in this country. But when you realize all the incredible freedoms and securities and opportunities this nation of ours provides for so many of us, in the main the investment looks to be worth it as we secure our common good and general welfare.

Is there room for improvement? Sure there is. That’s why we have these elections and the freedom to voice our opinions on what should or should not be national priorities.

Some interesting tidbits related to our tax investments — Tax Freedom Day is coming earlier this year and — according to the same sets of standards (which, admittedly, are goofy) used to declare Illinois state grants for diabetes research are “pork” — the Federal Pork Rolls for spending that tax money are again well below where they were prior to 2006 and the second-lowest during Bush’s two terms (the lowest was last year, 2007).

The commonality there? Dems are back in charge in the halls of Congress.