Library defeats Tea Party!

[calimary]

32. I think we should start a new re-education framing:

Use the following phrase to preface EVERYTHING that involves a disaster that federal, state, or local taxes would help avert, or recover from:

"Well, because nobody wants to pay taxes..."

"...Colorado's burning up because there aren't enough firefighters being hired and many districts have been unfunded."

"...there's no one left to advocate for revising mortgages and help prevent your losing your home..."

"...we can't really do a thorough search for that missing child, emergency services have been cut back."

"...had to close another hospital because we couldn't afford to staff it anymore. Better hope you don't need an ambulance - the closest hospital is now 150 miles away."

"...can't offer disaster assistance since the tornado blew away your home..."

"...you're surrounded by all them damn furnurs takin' yer jobs because we can't afford any further job training programs for our own unemployed."

"...no way you're gonna have any signal strength while driving cross-country. We didn't have the money to improve the communications grid. Hope your car doesn't break down or anything, 'cause you won't be able to call for road service..."

"...crime's gone up because we had to lay off most of the town's police force. And we don't have anybody on staff anymore to come take a report about the burglary in your house last night."

"...your kid still can't read at grade level because there's no money to keep the schools open or staffed anymore, much less offer after-school tutoring programs."

"...we only have enough resources to fight one house fire every two weeks. Had to lay off 50% of our city's firefighters."

"...expect brown-outs all summer, especially when it's hottest, because there isn't enough money to upgrade the power grid."

"...it's gonna take you five hours to commute each way to work from now on because we couldn't afford the upkeep on that old dilapidated bridge - that just collapsed."

"Well, since nobody wants to pay taxes..."


I even put it to one CONservative in this panel discussion in which I took part:

"Okay, friend - you don't like paying taxes. Well, how's your car holding up these days? How many times have you had to have the wheels realigned, or replaced, or buy new tires, or had to have your whole front axle replaced because the roads are so shitty that we're all driving over potholes all the time now and damaging our cars? How much have you REALLY "saved," in not paying taxes, that you're now forced to shell out through the nose, again and again, for car repairs - repairs that wouldn't have even been necessary if we'd been able to afford just the standard upkeep on our roads? A few more dollars from each of us in taxes would keep all of us from paying HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS more, just on car repairs. Priced a decent new tire lately?"

You could tell from the expression on his face that he just hadn't quite considered that. Hey, in a city like L.A. where we're all literally hostages to our cars, something as menial and seemingly insignificant as shitty pavement and potholes can be a BIG issue.