Unbridled optimism
By Matt Worley

This hasn't been the best week of my life. I could probably expand that statement by saying the last couple of months have sucked, but that would discount many good days that were scattered through the wreckage. No, this week stands out because it's put me in a position I don't like to be in. I'm starting to think I'm a victim and being a victim isn't what I went to college for. For the second time in a month, someone broke into my car and relieved me of some personal items. The first time my car stereo (and a very cool pair of sunglasses) was taken, this time they stole the tape player I was using to replace the stereo. To top it all off (as some sort of sadistic punchline) the mail in our mail box was sifted through for valubles this morning. Yes, and the week isn't even half over yet.

There are many things I can't do about these problems. I can't sit with a shotgun in my garage and watch the cars all night. I can't sit on the porch ready to rush and meet the mail every day. And I can't let go of the feeling that maybe something even worse might happen. It's this last thing that bothers me. By nature I'm an optimist prone to short bouts of depression usually caused by my optimism. I don't immediately distrust people I meet, this separates me from lawyers and politicians‹who not only distrust everyone, they do so with a smile.

At the Republican National Convention, Bob Dole was officially nominated to run for President on their party ticket. Dole has made many high profile moves in the last few weeks to try to build momentum in his campaign. He unveiled a ghastly economic plan and then chose ex-rival Jack Kemp as his running mate to explain it to everyone. The idea of cutting taxes to stimulate the economy (the thought being that a robust economy will pay for the tax cuts) isn't new. It was called Voodoo Economics by George Bush in 1980 before he was told to shut up by Reagan's advisors (George did and was selected as Reagan's running mate).

For some people, this idea works. Rich people save lots of money and get richer. But for the people who stole our car stereos it doesn't do a thing. If you don't make enough money to pay taxes (or have a small business that routinely loses the money you do make), it doesn't matter how low taxes are‹the refund check is in the mail. The only thing poor people might notice is that their refund check is smaller.

A comment on Politically Incorrect said it all (no not the one about women liking Democrats because they like big spenders): the Dole/Kemp economic will cause more people to become millionaires. This is true (and not in the way Al Franken has become a millionaire‹by slagging Dole, Kemp and their ilk), but it won't do anything for the millions of people in the lowest or no tax bracket. Maybe they get a new TV, or can take the family do Disneyland for a day, but this doesn't make their lives that much better. And many won't even get the TV because the money coming in won't change.

The idea behind making more people millionaires is that they will, in turn, help out their community. And maybe some will. My landlord‹who owns a number of houses in the area I live in‹lives half the continent away and doesn't seem to have the money to fix our stove, refrigerator or install a garage door (all of which were supposed to be done when we moved in). He must be one of those bad millionaires. One of those who is only interested in making himself wealthy rather than appreciating his good fortune and spreading the wealth. I'm sure he's just an anomaly. I'm sure all the new millionaires who come up out of the Voodoo Hoodoo economic plan will be different. See, I told you I was an optimist.

Matt Worley is currently skipping around the land mines, looking for the up ladder.

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