It's About To Get Political Up In Here...

Here is my issue with Prop 100 - feel free to agree or disagree. State spending in Arizona has increased from $6 Billion to nearly $10 Billion over the past 7 years. They spent beyond their means during good economic times, and now want the taxpayers to help them dig out rather than taking a good, hard look at their wasteful spending practices. Need some examples of waste? The Arizona Republic recently reported that in Maricopa County, we pay $2.2 Million each year in additional car allowances to government middle managers who are already earning more then $121K a year (not to mention their awesome pension, health benefits, etc.) Or how about the $380K per year we spend for a 24-hour police detail to drive around Phoenix Mayor Gordon? I, personally, can think of a few other places I would prefer my tax money to go. Unfortunately, a vote to further increase AZ taxes will just encourage the state to keep making poor financial choices with OUR money and then expect us to bail them out. Try to make this work out in real (not government) life:

• Me (going in to work on Monday) = “Hey boss. Had a pretty crazy weekend. Bought myself a new BMW, had a pool installed in my yard, threw a couple of sweet keggers. Oh, and I put it all on my corporate credit card. So I’m going to need you to give me some more money so I can pay for all of that crap I just bought, and so I can keep buying more crap just like it. If you don’t, I’m going to stop answering calls from the customer.”

• My Ass = Fired

See how this could never work in real life? If you or I tried to pull this BS, we would be laughed at or, more likely, fired. But this is essentially what the AZ government is trying to do. When economic times are tough, you need to find ways to work within your budget by being resourceful and cutting waste. Nobody but the government has the option to say, hey, let’s just charge people more so we can keep on partyin’. They shouldn’t have this option, but voting for a tax increase allows them to do just that.

And shame on Phoenix for trying to guilt and bully the people – most especially the teachers in this state – into voting for a tax that goes against their best interest. Saying that classroom sizes will have to expand, school budgets will have to be cut, teachers will have to be fired. Save the schools! Save our kids! WTF, Arizona? You have the ability to do this as it stands. Cut the fat out of your spending and give that money to the schools. Why is education not already your top priority? If you truly care about our kids and the schools, why would it even cross your mind to cut school spending first and foremost when you have a deficit? Seems like you should look everywhere BUT education first when it comes to making cuts. Except that would be in the best interest of the state as a whole, and not in the best interest of the self-serving legislators who are interested in padding their own wallets. So, yeah, that’s not going to happen. Instead, they will pay their propaganda people to go out and preach Prop 100 as the ONLY way we can save the schools. Get all of the teachers in fear of their jobs and all of the parents in fear of their children’s futures. Then they can keep spending recklessly and let the taxpayers keep funding their ridiculous budget.

Well, I’m going to propose to you a better idea: according to estimates, the average Arizona family will spend $400 in additional taxes each year if this proposition successfully passes. Some of that money will go to the schools. More of it will go to government overhead. So I would say to those who were planning on voting “Yes” on Prop 100: Instead, write out a check for $400 and donate it to your local public school. This would essentially accomplish the same end goal – giving money to the schools that need it. Except you can avoid a lot of the legislative overhead and waste by giving directly. Plus, charitable donations are tax-deductible, so you’ll actually end up getting about 30% of your donation back in taxes!! It’s a win-win for everyone except for the corrupt politicians pushing this proposition in the first place. That’s what we’ll be doing and I hope you consider doing the same. Vote “No” on Prop 100, hug a teacher for putting up with this shit, and then kick your nearest politician in the balls.