When news broke this week that two City of Buffalo employees were charged with pilfering more than $200,000 from parking meters they were employed to repair, it reminded me of an old bumper sticker: Don't Steal, the Government Hates Competition.

I may be the only one that saw the irony in the FBI raiding the homes of the two alleged scofflaws and hauling out thousands of dollars in quarters (OK guys, couldn't you at least have lugged the loot down to Wegmans and used one of those change machines to cash it in?) as well as $40,000 that was stashed in - of all places - the bathroom ceiling of one of the alleged crooks.

While it's obviously wrong to steal the money from parking meters, if you think about it, it is all stolen money in the first place, isn't it? You pay taxes at every level: federal taxes, state taxes, property taxes, sales tax.

You are taxed when you earn, taxed when you spend, taxed when you save and taxed when you die.

One of the alleged benefits of all of these taxes is that money is used to build and maintain the roads and other infrastructure in the cities and towns that gladly take your hard-earned money.

Then, when you come downtown to spend more of your money - to eat, shop, to conduct business - the city sees fit to charge you to park on the very streets that you paid for. How is that any different than installing a parking meter in your driveway and charging you to park on your own property?

Still, though the system is fundamentally flawed, that doesn't allow for people to take matters into their own hands and steal back the cash. Not to mention, the alleged crooks weren't exactly Robin Hood, passing the money back out to the people. They were seemingly hoarding it for themselves and, if so, should be prosecuted accordingly.

But is still rings a little hollow when the government steals your money, then acts so indignant when others steal it back.

It also makes one wonder why the heck we still have these antiquated parking meters hanging around. If you are going to stick up your citizens for spare change, at least get with the times and use the electronic parking stations that accept credit cards and offer up a ticket to place on your dash. They have them in many locations in the city, but apparently not everywhere.

It seems since this is a cash cow for Buffalo, the upgrades would pay for themselves. Which makes you wonder if greed drove the decision not to upgrade, keeping even more cash in the coffers. Cash that in the end, wound up, at least some of it, in a bathroom ceiling.

As I talked with people and asked for their thoughts on the great parking meter scandal, opinions ranged from "stealing is wrong, toss them in jail," to "They are city workers, they will get off easy." Then there was my favorite: "How can the city lose that much money and take so long to even notice? It makes you wonder how much more is being ripped off."

That last one came from a fellow I met downtown on my lunch break. He and I struck up a conversation after I had finished my lunch and was getting ready to head back to my car. I would have stayed and talked longer, but I only put a buck in the meter and my time was running out.