[9th J.P.’s Moment of Common Sense, my weekly oratorial exposition on Broad View, KBZZ 1270 AM Reno.  Click on the microphone to listen.]

People complain about money corrupting the political process but I think they’re looking at the wrong money.  It’s not private money causing trouble.  It’s public money.  We don’t need to stop rich people from donating to politicians—we need to stop public officials from using government money to support their private beliefs.

Twice as many Americans consider themselves conservative as consider themselves liberal yet our public discourse and the nation’s ideological momentum are dominated by the left.  It’s been that way for fifty years and it’s frustrating.  Last fall we went to the polls and delivered the most overwhelming defeat for any political party in the history of the United States—don’t let anybody tell you different, Democrats were spanked—but not one single thing changed.  The president went ahead and implemented open homosexuality in the military, the federal budget is cruising along with the same level of overspending that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi instituted, illegal aliens continue to flood into the country just in time to deliver anchor babies—the list is endless.

The state of Maryland is a good example: the current governor instituted sanctuary policies for illegal aliens and the state became a magnet for illegals.  They’ve flooded into the state.  The current Maryland budget deficit of $2 billion dollars per year is three quarters caused by the cost of illegals.  Apparently not content with the pace of the state’s march toward bankruptcy, the legislature passed the DREAM act which gives illegal aliens in-state tuition benefits.  Maryland citizens were enraged—so fed up they circulated a petition to put the DREAM act on the ballot.  Now they’ve been taken to court by a consortium of special interest groups who lobby on behalf of illegals and—here’s the kicker—get their money from government grants.

How are normal everyday people supposed to fight groups tapped into the endless funding of government?  It’s unfair!  We don’t have a chance in our country!

This kind of thing is happening all across America, with almost every issue confronting the nation.  To fight for what they believe, ordinary citizens have to take time off from work, donate hard-earned money, and then battle leftwing special interest groups funded by government grants.

So I’m asking a logical, common sense question: shouldn’t there be a restriction on government grants?  Shouldn’t there be something that says, “If you take this money, you can’t turn around and spend the money lobbying and campaigning for more?”

Look at Planned Parenthood.  Most Americans hate abortion and especially hate the factory-like abortion mill that Planned Parenthood has become.  They perform around half a million abortions every year.  But just try reducing some of the half billion dollars they get from taxpayers every year.  They have so much money to spend on lobbyists and campaign donations that even pro-life politicians walk softly.

Listen, people: Planned Parenthood has so much money they have five hundred million dollars sitting in the bank doing nothing.  Waiting for when it’s needed.  How are ordinary people supposed to fight that?

How about our president and his affiliation with ACORN?  He used ACORN to pump up his vote tally when he ran for president but ACORN has been involved in so much election fraud and so much mortgage fraud that Congress cut off their funding last year.  Yet President Obama continues to funnel them government money in violation of that law so ACORN is still in business, still fighting Americans on numerous issues, still lobbying politicians on behalf of illegal aliens, still engaged in filing fraudulent voter registrations, still working explicitly for the Democrat Party with government money.  They know they have an image problem so they’re changing their name to Project Vote instead of ACORN.  Guess what: our president just started his own personal get-out-the-vote effort, which he also named Project Vote.

Are you confused?  Think that’s a coincidence?  Well I’m not confused and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.  Obama will be using our money to fund his election campaign, again.

The Global Warming scam is entirely funded by government money.  I defy you to find one single scientist who supports the theory of Global Warming who doesn’t get government money.  Billions of dollars are spent every year by various agencies and levels of government to promote draconian controls on carbon dioxide, and no matter how many times climate scientists are caught red-handed fudging the statistics and engaging in academic fraud they keep charging ahead, fueled by all that money from our taxes!

It’s infuriating!

Sometimes whole federal agencies are dedicated to causes with which ordinary Americans disagree.  The Fish and Wildlife Service, for example.  They have an annual budget approaching two billion dollars and they decide whether a specific snail or butterfly or fungus is endangered enough to warrant kicking the humans out of a given area.  If you own land and Fish and Wildlife says you can’t develop it because they saw a blue-bellied Rorschach-spotted Elvis-crested moth flying around, can you afford to fight two billion dollars?  Me neither.

The entire political conversation in this country is polluted by public money.  This is not a free speech issue.  This is no different than an employer who says, “One condition of working here is no political campaigning during work hours.”  Anybody who gets government money should take it on the condition they shut up and can’t use the money to campaign for more.

Simple. as. that.  I’m sick of watching Americans fight uphill battles against themselves.

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” —P.J. O’Rourke

From Reno, Nevada, USA        Tweet

September 25, 2011 - Don't forget all those "public service" commercials on tv and radio... including your own radio show. The government is engaged in a 24/7 brainwashing campaign with our money. - Ansel M., California