Get the bathtub ready!

Grover Norquist is the anti-tax lobbyist famous for saying his goal was to “get government down to the size where you could drown it in the bathtub.”

He was referring to the Federal government, which is still afloat for now, but in the meantime, we’re getting a taste of what a little water in the lungs can do on the local level.

Since the Great Recession, 12 local governments have declared bankruptcy, the latest being San Bernardino, which means the city can cut expenses by delaying payments to local businesses and cutting retirement plans.

But that’s not all, according to the assistant city manager, “With the cuts that have to be made to balance our budget, there have to be cuts to public safety.”

Bottom line: Smaller government!

Meantime in Scranton, Pennsylvania — no bankruptcy, but to avoid it, the city had to cut 400 workers to minimum wage. Otherwise, said the Mayor, “We probably wouldn’t have been allowed inside the landfill to dump our garbage.”

But the city council rejected the mayor’s 78 percent tax increase, and without it, banks wouldn’t loan the city money. So when city workers opened their paychecks: Their hourly rates, no matter what their experience had gone down to minimum wage, $7.20 an hour.

In short — both sides the debate should be happy: On the right, the anti-taxers and the drown the government in the bathtub types got their way, and on the left, those who think everybody ought to be paid EQUALLY got their way!

I don’t want to take sides, but I will predict that bathtub will have a nasty ring around it.

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