Let them eat (yellow) cake
This morning’s paper was full of examples of how The System works, but the best was yet another story about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, aided and abetted by a “Democratic� state legislature, starting up yet another slush fund (through an “officeholder committee�) which in two months netted him $180,000. That’s on top of the $246,000 that his re-election campaign has taken in since November. . .for a reelection bid he can never make. That’s almost half a million dollars in two months. Then there’s the $1.3 million from millionaires and corporations he’s gotten for his second inaugural celebration, most of which he’ll miss with a broken leg from a skiing accident.
And, by the way, do you think he paid for the skis he fell from, the lift ticket that got him up the hill, or the private jet that took him to Idaho? Think again.
Does anybody REALLY think these contributions, or the $200 million he raised during his first term, are made because of political philosophy? Does anybody even question the fact these contributors give money and get something in return? At YOUR expense? First, because they get things you pay for, like no-bid contracts they can fraudulently not honor (Halliburton, etc), second, the people we pay to represent us actually work for THEM, and finally, the bribes they pay for favors are tax deductible “free speech�, so you pay the taxes they didn’t pay.
Another example, as Leo Sears points out, is the illegal immigration industry, and its success in stopping enforcement of laws against those hiring illegal aliens. Democratic and Republican administrations have underwritten millions of illegals, taking millions of jobs away from Americans and keeping wages low. A few of those streaming across the border are sent back (at enormous expense). But, as Leo says, “The fault is with illegal employers. If it were not for their glaring ‘in your face’ refusal to abide by the law, there would be no problem.� But the politicians are paid, so there is no effective enforcement.
So, OK, this is fine with you. You just reelected Ahnold by a landslide, and the Democrats (even, sadly, our local representatives) blithely take money for favors, with your approval. So how about this small compromise: let’s stop paying them! That’s right, no pay, no perks, no retirement. People like Ahnold have made it abundantly clear they don’t need the taxpayers’ piddling salaries, so let’s stop wasting it on them. Let Exxon pay for his medical care, let Avis pay for his office space and housing, let DHL pay for his staff. Let Pfizer pay for his medical care and drugs.
This is a privatized government, so why should taxpayers be asked to pay more?