Tuck Tail and Run Away

picture courtesy of The National Guard

Today is special election day in California. Don't you think that this would be a big reason for a governor to stay in the state? Don't you think that any meetings and other engagements a governor would have outside the state (even if it was with the President) should be rescheduled for another day?

Not according to our governor. Nope, he knows that his ridiculous bills to RAISE OUR TAXES again is going to fail miserably. So what does he do? He tucks tail and runs away! He left last night to go to Washington DC to meet with the President to discuss global warming! Apparently that is more important that an election in this state.

How important? Oh, it meant he had to drop everything! He couldn't go to the poles and vote; oh no! He had to get an EMERGENCY absentee ballot yesterday so that he could vote and then leave...on his private jet (how's that for caring about global warming).

WHEN all these bills fail today (which all the polls show they aren't just losing, they are losing in a landslide) there is going to have to be another emergency session of state congress to talk about the budget again...oh wait, our governor is talking about global warming; that can't happen. This is his pattern: get everyone all involved in something IMPORTANT like taxes, budget reform, etc...; when things get tough, distract everyone with global warming; talk about how we need to do this and this to reform California government; oops, things aren't going my way, quick let's talk about global warming; it keeps repeating.

I'll leave you with this: Last week in a press conference, a reporter was pressing him on the issues of these raised taxes we will be voting on today. The question was (loosely quoted) "How do we know that you won't try and raise our taxes again after this?" The great governator's response? "Because I...(long pause) I promise you" (said with very little confidence). See, he's made so many promises that he has broken that even he knows that he can't be trusted when he says he promises something.

Why we need LESS social programing

Last night on the way home from work, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items; it was just enough to get us through to our next paycheck. We are both preschool teachers and live off a very small budget (well worth it to both of our points of view). However, we live off a budget and live paycheck to paycheck.

We don't rely on federal or state funding to get our needs met. This is partly because we make about $100 more a year than we should in order to qualify. But even if we made $100 less, we still wouldn't. We take responsibility for our actions and don't think that the hard working citizen should have to put food on our table just because we want an xbox 360.

While standing in line, there was a girl/woman/female in front of me with some chips, dip, and some other junk food. She was also holding a food stamp EBT card. This is a new system for handling food stamp money in which a person gets an ATM-like card to make their purchases. She then told the cashier that she wanted a bottle of some high priced alcohol. The cashier reminded her that the card would not pay for it; the girl said, "I know, I have cash for that."

She then proceeded to take out a wad of $20's from her purse. Seriously! She could have paid for my groceries, her junk food, AND her alcohol with that cash. Okay, let's give her the benefit of the doubt; maybe that money was to pay for her bills. However, I cannot overlook the fact that the alcohol she bought cost more than the junk food we tax payers paid for.

See, we need to make choices in our life. Sometimes these choices suck. I can eat or I can drink alcohol, I have to choose. Hey, I can either pay for gas in my car to get to work and make money or I can spend that money on the DVD for series 4 of House. Would I like to have that DVD? Of course! It would bring me much more happiness that trekking off to work everyday. But I have to live within our means in order to not be a burden on society.

In my program, we do home visits. I go into people's homes of children who are receiving free child care (free to them, tax payers pay the price). We also provide free food to these children and families.

There are some families that I feel really good about helping. I've had a widowed 23 year old mom with 2 kids whose husband was killed in an car accident on his way home from work. She was a SAHM and was going to home school her boys. He wasn't old enough to have but that much into SSI to hel his family out.

There are some other families that have just been dealt bad times and really appreciate the help and are trying hard at getting back on their feet.

Unfortunately, this is the minority.

There are many other homes that I drive up to and the house is falling apart. Literally, screen doors falling off hinges, roofs need to be replaced, lawns dead and not taken care of, broken windows, etc... The children are playing outside with no shoes; not because they don't want to wear them, but because the parents "can't afford" them. These children come to our program and eat three meals a day with us and scarf it down because it's their only meal in a day.

I walk into the homes and am greeted by several adults sitting around watching a big screen tv (many times too big for the room and unimaginable how they even got it in there) where the newest xbox game is being played.

The attitude is (and I've had several people tell me this to my face), "Hey, the government will pay for (this or that) why should I? I can spend my money on other things."

I do think that there needs to be some social programs available for some people; but I know from experience that our tax money is being wasted on things that it shouldn't be. No, we didn't pay for that big screen tv; what we payed for was the food or clothes so that the families didn't have to spend their money on needs so that they could get what the want.

Raising Taxes is a BAD idea

We keep hearing it over and over no matter where in this great country you live: Democrats want to raise taxes to increase revenue.

It's a very bad idea. Raising taxes will actually hurt the economy. History has proven that when you decrease taxes, there is more money to put back into the economy.

When people have more money to spend, the spend it. This, in turn, allows more money to actually go back into play; and, in turn, end up actually paying more in taxes.

I figure this as well: by lowering taxes, I will have more money and will be much more likely to give charitably. So, all these social programs that my tax money is supposed to be going to, would benefit even more by lowering my taxes as well. When there is more money to be spent, people are more likely to share with others.

So, really what we should be looking at is lowering taxes to increase revenue as well as increasing revenue to charitable organizations. If the public can fund these programs on their own without taxes, how much better would that be for the socialists?

If their idea truly is to have citizens supporting each other, doesn't this make sense in the best way to do just that?