Friday, February 06, 2004

The SUV tax is gone but...has California cut off its nose to spite its face?

       "I have fulfilled my promise," stated Governor Schwarzenegger recently. "I have eliminated the SUV tax." Smart shopping, California? Not! What can we possible buy with the money we saved that can possibly be more valuable to us than healthy local government, good schools and the protection of our property and lives in case of fire, burglary or medical emergency? Next time we dial 911 and get a busy signal, let's just remember all that extra lingerie we got to buy from Victoria's Secret with the money we saved on SUV taxes and be glad. 

     Remember what Mama used to say. "If you get in an accident, make sure you are wearing clean underwear!" Of course this thought will console us as we bleed to death out in the middle of some deserted freeway south of Fresno because the state can no longer afford adequate CHPs. 

     When they close our children's schools, will we still think that sacrificing our children's education was worth not paying the SUV tax because now our kids have an extra big-screen television to watch instead of knowing how to read? Will watching cartoons five hours a day help train Junior for California's shrinking job market? We are about to find out! 

       Was paying a SUV tax really the greater of two evils? Not even close! What we SHOULD have done was demand our money back from Enron and stop paying exorbitant blackmail money to PG&E. Then, if Pacific Gas & Electric actually does go belly-up, it will be the Schwarzenegger/Davis/Wilson crowd, not us, who will lose their shorts. 

      And, meanwhile, we smart Californians will be off making firemen happy and buying little frilly lacy things from Victoria's Secret.