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Julia Gorin
The America Show
Episode 4
Jesus and Mordy
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Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From San Francisco
by Burt Prelutsky
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America Alone
by Mark Steyn
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The CRO Store
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I guess I’m a real political junkie.  I just love political commercials.  I know it sounds weird, but I actually change channels during the news programs during an election season, just to see the commercials.  Who’s running them, what they say, what they think the issues are, and who are they trying to talk to.  Call Republicans racists in the last three weeks of a campaign, and African Americans will forget the bad things that Democrats have done over the last two years, and vote straight Democrat.  Talk about raising taxes, and Republicans will vote against it.  Talk about protecting the environment and improving education, and Democrats will vote for it.  Quite frankly, the messaging becomes so important that the substance of the message is often lost in the words of the message.

Take California's No on 90 campaign.  They are trying to have it both ways.  The “taxpayer trap” words are trying to get Republicans and the “environment” language is trying to get Democrats.  They are wrong on both counts, but that is why they are doing it.  Messaging.

We see the same thing in the Yes on 86, 87, 88, and 89 campaigns.  These initiatives are tax increases.  When the Yes on 86 campaign says they want to tax big oil, they don’t say “We are going to tax Big Oil, and give the money to ‘Big Government.’”  They say, Big Oil is destroying the world, and we want to stop big oil, and create alternative fuels.  You don’t like Big Oil, so you want to stop them, too.

Or, Big Tobacco.  Big Tobacco is killing your kids, and they want to kill you.  We are going to stop Big Tobacco.

I don’t give money to Big Tobacco.  I don’t give money to Big Oil.  I pay for gasoline because I like my SUV, and that darn thing needs gas to go.  But you can rest assured I will never buy a Prius, or some other low emission vehicle.  I hate them.  I want to make Big Oil rich with my car.  I really dislike cigarettes, so I will never make Big Tobacco rich.  However, in both cases, it is my choice.  The point is that Big Oil and Big Tobacco make big money because we give it to them for gasoline and cigarettes.  If we don’t buy cigarettes, or if we buy a sissy, prissy Prius, they make less money.  That is fair.

Big Government, however, makes money by taking it from us.  If I don’t like Shell, but I like Chevron, Chevron makes money.  If I don’t like the gas tax, but I don’t care about the cigarette tax, I still have to pay Big Government.  Big Government doesn’t care about my likes, dislikes, desires, or satisfaction, it just takes the money.  The subtext of each of the campaigns for the initiatives to raise taxes is “We don’t like ‘X” industry or group, so take their money, and give it to ‘Big Government.’”

Big Government, not Big Oil or Big Tobacco or special interests or rich people, is the problem.  Big Government takes our money, and spends it on what they want to spend it on.  My choice is to pay or get shot.

The real evil in society is Big Government.  Big Oil and Big Tobacco will leave us alone if we don’t want their stuff.  Big Government will search for ways to harass us.  As long as we keep giving it money, it will continue to ask for more, and those who make money off of Big Government will continue to pay for the laws to take more.  If we vote for Big Government, I guess we get what we deserve. CRO

Mr. Haynes is a California Assemblyman repesenting Riverside and Temecula and frequent contributor to CaliforniaRepublic.org.

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