Good ideas are worth paying for

Ezra Klein:

The tendency [of Democrats] to speak of taxes as an unpleasant surcharge exacted for the government and spent on...well...who knows, is poisonous. Within that mindset, folks probably prefer if you take the cash from the rich and not from them. But if Obama is going to be the transformational, Reagan-style pol he presents himself as, he's going to have to grow comfortable speaking positively of the role of government, and selling some of his initiatives as good ideas worth paying for.

It's worth it to have effective responses to natural disasters, worth it to have a modern national infrastructure, worth it to have national health care, worth it to have more than one safety inspector examining Chinese goods, worth it to invest in medical and scientific research, worth it to enact universal pre-kindergarten.

Indeed, many of these priorities are not only worth the cost, but they're actually good investments. They're a damn good deal. And Democrats need to grow comfortable [with] making that case.