Most of Impromptus today is devoted to one theme: an “all er nuthin’” attitude in politics. (I take the phrase from a Rodgers & Hammerstein song.) But I have a few little items at the end. And one goes like this:

I was looking at a receipt from Spirit Airlines. On the tax line, it said, “Government’s Cut.” I liked that. Refreshing. Honest. Different.

Before writing this column, I Googled “Spirit Airlines” and “Government’s Cut,” just to be sure I had seen right. Just to be sure I had read my receipt right, some while back.

In the course of this Googling, I found a post by a man who was unhappy with Spirit’s language. (Sounds like I’m writing about religion!)

A “cut” is supposed to anger us, at the confiscatory and grasping antics of mean ol’ Uncle Sam. Consider this potential customer very much unpersuaded. I like safe roads and I value safe skies. Thank you kindly, Uncle Sam, for taking your cut.

Here we see a liberal-conservative divide (another one). When we oppose taxes, or speak critically of them, there will always be people who say, “I like safe roads! I value safe skies!” Because, as everyone knows, we conservatives hate safe roads and safe skies.

I am echoing WFB here. Once, he had Charlie Peters on his television show, and Peters was praising Reagan for removing low-income earners from the federal tax roll altogether. “I can’t believe it, but Reagan did something that helped the poor.” WFB interjected, “Yes, because as we all know, Reagan hates the poor.”

Our debate is over levels of taxation. Types of taxation. The structure of taxation. Degrees of taxation. The correct purposes of the federal government, a state government, etc.

Years ago — I think I was in college — I read an interview with James Michener, who was then a huge novelist. He said he always liked to live in high-tax states, not low-tax ones, because he then felt like he was contributing his fair share.

My conservatism was budding at the time, and I thought, “But can’t he give away as much of his money as he wants? What’s stopping him?”

Anyway, I feel a long speech by me coming on, so I’ll stop now. You get my drift.