Tough choices

     We tell our kids that life is full of tough choices: You can have ice cream or cake, but not both. You can go to soccer camp or the beach, but not both.
     But we don't like it when we have to face tough choices ourselves, especially when the payoff is not always so immediate and personal.
     Raise taxes a penny to keep teachers and reduce class sizes at an average household cost of $40, or go to the sporting goods store and shell out $70 for a Ravens shirt?
     That's really a tough call for a lot of people.
     Shell out another five cents for the booze you drink watching the game on your 50 inch HD flatscreen, or keep it to buy an extra two cases of beer a year?
     Wink, shrug and nudge at the moral erosion of gambling casinos and the shady figures backstage, or have the fat cats who anonymously fund political campaigns and influence elections pony up more in taxes?
     Life is tough and there are contradictions everywhere. You go to church on Sunday and get weepy and full of self congratulations when you hear the sermon about the Good Samaritan, because you know that helping the poor man by the side of the road is the right thing to do -- What Would Jesus Do.
     But leave your health insurance plan alone and don't bring on a health care plan that includes people not as fortunate -- meaning wealthy, or just plain lucky -- as others.
     It's complicated. Less so for conservatives, for whom everything is pretty simple. More so for liberals, whose solutions sometimes lead to new problems. For moderates and the generally disengaged, it's just plain confusing.
     Isn't it great that we have all the negative ads during election season to help us sort it all out?