'Rob from Peter to pay Paul' is an old expression going back centuries.

Here is one story about its origin:
"One source suggests the expression 'rob Peter to pay Paul' goes back at least to John Wycliffe's 'Select English Works,' written in about 1380. Equally old in French, the saying may derive from a 12th-century Latin expression referring to the Apostles: 'As it were that one would crucify Paul in order to redeem Peter.' "

Another story concerns building a cathedral where the bell towers were named Peter and Paul, and they decided to use the bell designated for the Peter tower in the Paul tower, but eventually they'd have to get a another bell. And another explanation I saw said it had nothing to do with the apostles Peter and Paul, those names were chosen for the alliteration.

This saying came to my mind today reading a news item about how with all the hybrid and all-electric cars the tax revenue from gasoline sales is down, so less money is being collected for highway maintenance. State revenue officials are at work trying to figure out how to fix this problem; we'll save some money on gasoline for a couple of years, but pretty soon our taxes are going to go up based on some other formula, such as miles driven per year or toll roads.

Another example of the consumer saving money through conservation resulting in no long-term savings is the water bill. Here in the desert the water company pays people to replace their grass lawn with xeriscapes that require less water. But then the utility isn't collecting enough money to pay their top managers the huge salaries and bonuses, so even though our water bills went down through personal sacrifice, our base rates are going up to compensate. We borrowed a lower water bill from Peter but now we have to pay Paul more.

And one more: with all the trash recycling, landfills are complaining they are not bringing in their projected revenue, so will have to raise their rates. You'd think they'd consider the long-term benefit from not having to acquire more real estate for future landfills.

Change of subject:
Driving past the cemetery the other day we saw that the deceased's saddle horse was in attendance at the graveside service. I just hope that horse finds a good new owner who will love him as much as the departed. Mr. Troutbend said he didn't want Buddy or the current cat at that time to come to his burial, but it's a thought.