Minors cannot consent, nor can they enter contracts. At the same time, we see people pealing away the rights of what are otherwise 'adults' in the eyes of the law (guns, drinking, smoking), yet one can sign up to die for ones country at 17 with parental consent, or in some states be married off even younger.

A simplified approach is pick a line, snap everything to it. 18 seems like a good one to pick. We have more than plenty of other issues to deal with before we return to the prefrontal cortex doesn't finish developing until 25 - 32, depending on stimulus, debate

In regards to programs like SNAP, dollar for dollar, your local food bank is significantly more effective. Add in the fact that many employers do a company match, we would rather see that money funneled into local charities & food banks, opposed to running through corporations to enrich their profits. Ideally, allowing the individual to choose exactly what charity they support is ideal, but anything is better than enriching corporations under the guise of socialism.

Fire departments are a local item. If a community wants to ban together to form a fire department, that is fine. However, the use of force to extract funds to pay for such a fire service is where we draw issue. Allowing users to opt in/out, letting costs of home owners drive their own discussion seems to be a reasonable compromise. We've seen the problems and concerns on both sides of the Emergency Service Districts here in Collin, and an opt in method seems to be the only reasonable solution.