How to Speak Washingtonian

Today we learn how to see through the utter crap that comes out of the political offices in DC today..... here is a case study.

"Washington, DC—Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) today introduced bipartisan legislation to establish a Water Trust Fund for investing in America’s broken drinking water and sewage treatment systems. The “Water Protection and Reinvestment Act,” H.R.3202, establishes a $10 billion annual fund for repairing America’s corroded pipes and overburdened sewer systems, which pose serious health, environmental, and security consequences." (Please refrane from making fun of him based on appearance alone. I assure you there is more reason to hate him than just his bicycle pin and awful fashion sense.)

The above passage is directly from Rep. Blumenauer's website: http://blumenauer.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1524&Itemid=1

Upon first reading of the above passage, most people think "Oh, that sounds noble and worthwhile." (sounds like how O! got elected). I agree it may sound benign enough but let's look a little deeper (something most Americans clearly fail to do so regularly or this guy would be out of a job). We need to ask the question "Where will this $10 billion come from every year?"

Here's the answer: "The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act will be financed broadly by small fees on such things as bottled beverages, products disposed of in waste water, corporate profits, and the pharmaceutical industry. This will provide a long-term, sustainable source of revenue to ensure economic prosperity and protect the health of people and the environment."

Translation: Taxes will be put on bottled beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, bottled water, etc), products disposed of in waste water (toothpaste, toilet paper, mouthwash, dish soaps, etc..... yes, I double checked this), corporate profits (the overall profits that companies make that are already doubly taxed), and the pharmaceutical industry (why single them out? They already have to compete with generic drugs). So what this boils down to is that all the items we buy because we need are going to go up in price (the companies cannot afford to eat these costs and there is no reason they should have to). So this means less money in YOUR pocket.

Next question we need to ask, "Where is this money to go?"

Answer: "The $10 billion annual fund will create more than 250,000 jobs."

Translation: All the money taken from you (through the increased prices of the taxed consumer goods) will go to creating and paying the operating costs of a brand new governmental agency that will oversee the entire process of taxing and enforcing this new Act. In the past, when this type of agency has been created, it turns out to be a bureaucratic nightmare (the money all goes into paying people to create the organization and the ultimate task (upgrading sewer systems in this case) never gets done). The phrasing here about creating jobs has the unmistakable stench of a PR house about it (guess who paid for the PR work for Rep. Blumenauer?). Job creation is a buzz term that is used in cases just like this to make one thing seem like something completely different.

There are numerous stories like this that run almost hourly. People read them and say 'Oh that sounds noble, why not?' when, in fact, they should be saying 'Stop trying to trick me into giving you more money!' And let's not make this a partisan issue either because Republicans have their hand just as deep in the cookie jar as the Dems do (who am I kidding....much deeper in the cookie jar, that's how they all got so damn fat).

So don't let yourself be sweet talked by politicians. We elected them, they should be doing exactly what we want. Let's cut through their crockery and take a stand.

Yes, he bikes around the capital. I'll knock him off of it if I ever see him (BTW he is breaking the law by going the wrong way down the street, can I have a cut of the tax dollars generated from the ticket?)