Contributor

Ray Haynes

Mr. Haynes is an Assembly member representing Riverside and Temecula. He serves on the Appropriations and Budget Committees. [go to Assembly Member Haynes website at California Assembly][go to Haynes index]

Ruling From An Alternate Universe
Denying reality in Sacramento...
[Ray Haynes] 6/1/04

I love the old Star Trek shows. My favorite ones always involved Captain Kirk going through some wormhole to an alternative universe, a different dimension, where everyone worried about matter and anti-matter colliding, causing the end of life as we know it. I’ll bet you didn’t know that we have that problem in Sacramento. I am convinced that my Democrat friends are from the alternative universe, having passed through the wormhole, and are now threatening life as we know it in California as their ideas (inspired by some anti-matter delusion) collide with reality.

Think about this. Five years ago, in the midst of the biggest budget surpluses ever, Republicans were asking for tax cuts, asking that government return people’s money to them. Then-Speaker (and Democrat) Antonio Villaraigosa said that the legislature is giving peoples’ money back to them—when the legislature spends the money on the important Democrat-created government programs. In his mind, you and I paid our taxes, he gave the money to his supporters, and that is how he gave us our money back. Hey--thanks for the help. You and I don’t get welfare, or any other free government stuff. So how do these government programs help us?

Lest you think Antonio’s comments were an aberration, now Speaker (and Democrat) Fabian Nunez recently said: “We’ll tell the governor what we really want in this budget, what we think is important, what we think is socially responsible. Then the governor can tell us how he plans to see to it that the revenues are there to fund those programs.” What? Think about it. What if your spouse said that to you? “I get to spend the money; you have to figure out how to get it.” Talk about arrogance! He is obviously from an alternative universe.

Republicans in Sacramento aren’t always right, but they seem more often grounded in reality. They understand that a government can’t spend more than it takes in on a regular basis. They understand that government can’t do it all. They understand that people actually want to be left alone most of the time.

Democrats in Sacramento, on the other hand, constantly demonstrate that they are from an alternative universe. In that universe, giving more money to a failing government program will make it succeed. If it continues to fail, it obviously needs more money. In that universe, a budget deficit is solved by spending more and more money. In that universe, government creates jobs, and business destroys jobs. In that universe, fewer people applying for welfare or subsidized health care is a problem, rather than a goal. In that universe, raising taxes actually encourages people to work harder, and cutting taxes destroy individual incentive. In that universe, the best way to save money on waste and fraud is to stop spending money investigating and prosecuting waste and fraud. In that universe, more government regulation encourages businesses to grow, and less regulation grows business. In that universe, business owners, and you and I, actually enjoy and appreciate the government micro-managing our lives.

In California, matter and anti-matter have actually collided. My Democrat friends continue to deny reality, and impose their vision on a world that still operates under the laws of physics and supply and demand. The result—our houses cost too much, our freeways are congested, we are running out of gasoline, water and electricity, our budget is out of balance, and jobs are leaving the state in droves. How do my Democrats friends react to these negative trends? They keep doing the same things, taxing and regulating business, and making our life miserable. They are doing their best to make sure that life as we know it ends in our great state.

This will continue as long as they are in charge. They have entered the wormhole. They destroy all that they touch. Perhaps some day, California voters will return them to the universe from which they came, and put the humans back in charge in Sacramento. CRO

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