What do solar power, George Bush and marijuana have in common?

Remember that Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the others..." See if you can guess which one does NOT belong on the following list:

George Bush

Solar power

Prostitution

Marijuana

Gambling

Mayonnaise

Yes, the correct answer is mayonnaise. All the rest are "kind of the same".

See if you can guess the similarities between the other five, boys and girls. What do all these other things have in common? If you guessed "local taxes," you guessed right.

Bush's humongous tax-and-spend policies are driving local taxes through the roof and cities and states across the country are SCRAMBLING to make ends meet.

Here in California, there are so many fund-raising initiatives on the November ballot that it looks like a PTA bake sale. Oakland is toying with the idea of legalizing marijuana -- hey, it's revenue. Berkeley has a measure on the ballot to increase its citizens' tax base by giving "working girls" a break. And at the state level, there are several ballot initiatives that would strongly encourage gamblers to contribute money to the state.

Everywhere across America, thanks to Dubya, cities and towns are trying to figure new ways to break into their piggy banks.

What if Berkeley specialized in legalized cat houses? What if Oakland specialized in growing dope? What if Contra Costa County became the new Las Vegas? What would this achieve? Financial solvency. Something the Bush Administration is not providing.

For the last four years we have had to listen ad nauseam to George Bush's cult Christians cry out against the wages of sin -- yet these very same people have now put the rest of us God-fearing Americans in the terrible position of having to sell "sin" in order to make ends meet. That's just not right.

Unfortunately, there is only so much money that cities, counties and states can raise to counteract Bush's gigantic corporate welfare giveaways. (However, there still may be hope. Our local governments haven't tried holding yard sales yet.)

But, you may well ask, how did solar power get onto this list? Me! I'm trying to balance MY budget too. If I had solar power, I wouldn't have to worry about nothing -- not wars, terrorists, depressions, earthquakes or hurricanes. I would be self-sufficient. If you had solar power, you would be too.