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John Campbell

John Campbell (R-Irvine) is a California State Senator representing the 35th District in Orange County. He represents the cities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Cypress. He can be reached through his Senate website and through the website for his California Senate campaign. [go to Campbell index]

A Glossary For California Progressives
'Bipartisanship,' 'spending cuts,' 'close tax loopholes'...
[John Campbell] 2/9/05

Whenever I travel to a foreign country where the language spoken is something other than English, I try to learn a few words to make it easier to get around. During the four years I have served in the liberal-dominated California Legislature, I have often felt like I was in a foreign country, particularly coming from Orange County. They may speak English up there, but it is a dialect that has taken me several years to understand. You see, the words and phrases that liberals use do not always mean the same things to them that they mean to you and I.

Still, I have picked up on a few key phrases in liberal-speak. And since "red" Orange County is still part of a "blue" state, down here we hear a lot of liberal speak. So here for your edification is a brief glossary of some of the most commonly used liberal terms:

"Close tax loopholes" means "raise taxes." This is one of the newest but most used liberal terms. Their ideology requires that they continually raise taxes on everyone, but they know this is not popular. So they now use the "loopholes" term instead. But their list has included such "loopholes" as the mortgage interest deduction, the dependent tax credit and the fact that you don't pay sales tax on your dry cleaning.

"Spending cut" means "any increase in spending that is less than we think it should be." For example, Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget increases spending by 4.2 percent but has been attacked by Democrats as being a "devastating cut."

"Bipartisanship" means "Republicans voting to do whatever Democrats want." Democrats have been in charge in Sacramento for so long (they have controlled the California Senate for 48 of the last 50 years) that the skill of compromise seems to have evolved out of them due to a lack of need the way that prehistoric animals lost their fins after the Ice Age. They call for bills on raising taxes and driver's licenses for illegal aliens as actions of bipartisanship. How about bipartisan action on real spending reductions and real immigration reform?

"This will help our kids" means "more taxpayer money for the teachers union bosses." The teachers union is a labor organization. Like nearly all unions, its objective is to get more members, protect its least competent members and get more money for those and other members. Democrats slavishly follow their lead, but disguise their objective as being for kids. Giving more money to the union won't help kids. Reforming the system will. And the teachers union doesn't want that. (Related variation: "Helping the poor" usually means "increasing the bureaucracy that works with the poor." How else can you explain that after years of pouring more money into the welfare system without improving the poverty rate, they want to pour more money into the same failed system?)

"Insure the uninsured" means "socialized health care." They know that people want to be insured but don't want the DMV to provide their health care. Nevertheless, all Democratic proposals are partial or complete steps toward the sort of government-run mandatory systems that are failing all over the world.

"Stop big business" means "stop jobs." Liberals have yet to understand the connection between business and jobs. Employees do not exist without employers. When they hurt one, they hurt the other. And most of their anti-big business proposals actually hurt small business more because small business cannot afford to hire the lawyers and HR departments necessary to comply with all the regulation. But jobs and small business are popular and big business is not, so they have to change the terms. Of course, their solution after they drive away all the private sector jobs will be to raise taxes further to fund more public sector jobs. Except that there will be no one left to pay them.

You may want to cut this out and post it near wherever you read the morning newspaper or listen to the evening news for an immediate translation. Until then, I bid you farewell, or, as a liberal might say, "Until we tax you again." CRO

This piece first appeared in the Orange County Register

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