Approximately a month after Al Gore promised to fix up his ramshackle
rental property, his tenants Charles and Tracy Mayberry and their six
children left for Ohio. Seven members of the Tennessee Republican party
calling themselves Tennessee Volunteers spent July 7 packing and moving
the Mayberry’s belongings. The Mayberry’s final act of defiance against
the landlord they called a “slumlord” was to leave a “Gore Free
Tennessee” bumper sticker on the bathroom mirror. I predict that none of
the Mayberry clan will vote for Gore in their new state of Ohio come
Nov. 7.
Al Gore needs some lessons in basic landlording skills. Being a
landlord is not like being a congressman, senator, or even vice
president. Tenants believe, and rightly so, that they have the right to
a home free of biting insects and holes in the floors. In addition the
house should include proper plumbing and safe electrical wiring. As
tenants of the United States government, Al and Tipper Gore expect those
same amenities.
Presidents and vice presidents live in government-supplied homes in
Washington, D.C. Their every wish is fulfilled almost before they and
their families ask. It would be unthinkable for them to live in
conditions similar to the Mayberrys.
Somehow what the vice president expects his landlord to do
doesn’t carry over into his thinking as a landlord. Maybe it’s because
all those repairs come out of the Gore’s pocket, not that of the U.S.
taxpayer. Al doesn’t treat the taxpayers’ money the same way he treats
his own. His treatment of the Mayberrys parallels his treatment of
taxpayer dollars. He is promising to give away our hard-earned money as
payments for votes from every constituency under the sun.
While the Mayberrys were leaving Al Gore’s estate, he was in Chicago
promising senior citizens to fight for the people, not the powerful. His
definition of a “fight” includes spending a total of $339 billion over
the next ten years to add a prescription drug program and extend the
Medicare Trust Fund until 2030.
Gore even falsely accused the Republicans of shutting down the
government in 1995 over the issue of Medicare. The truth was that
Clinton vowed to veto the budget unless the Republicans dropped their
legislation to maintain Medicare Part B spending.
Gore is not only trying to buy senior citizens’ votes; he is also
pandering for environmentalists’ votes. On June 27 he was promising a
$75 billion energy efficiency plan to encourage Americans to build solar
powered homes and buy gasoline-free cars. On June 30 he was promising
$25 billion for light rail transportation and cleaner buses. According
to Frank Bruni in the
New York
Times, in addition to those billions already pledged, Gore has pledged to spend $148 billion over 10 years to make everything from power plants to family sedans more fuel-efficient and less toxic to the environment.
All those promises were made before the Congressional Budget Office refigured the projected budget surplus. Now they are predicting that we will have a $2.17 trillion surplus over the next 10 years. Thanks to an unprecedented level of employment the American taxpayer continues sending Washington more and more of his and her hard earned dollars.
On the heels of the CBO report, the Republican controlled Senate passed a bill eliminating that part of the income tax, which costs married couples additional taxes when both work. Both President Clinton and Vice President Gore have endorsed cutting the so-called “marriage penalty” in the past. Yet, President Clinton again vowed to veto this small tax cut, which passed by a non-veto proof margin of 61-38 with eight Democrats joining the Republican majority.
Americans deserve to get their money back; not watch Al Gore promise it to anyone he thinks may cast a vote in his favor. He seems to be always willing to spend our hard earned dollars for his favorite constituency, rather than returning the excess to the American people. In a speech before a dinner of $5,000 a plate contributors, he even went to far as to warn that Bush’s tax cut, as modest as it is, would result in higher interest rates.
Our budget surplus has been achieved on the backs of the American middle class. We have families where both parents work, not one but two jobs, to make ends meet. These people deserve their refunds. As Finance Committee Chairman Senator Bill Roth said, “We will see who supports marriage tax relief, and we will see who thinks American families are not entitled to this relief.”
It is time for Americans to tell President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Texas Governor Bush, their senators, and their congressmen that they want their money back and repealing the “marriage penalty” is only the necessary first step.
It’s easy to think that the present economy will continue forever, and that’s what the Democrats want everyone to believe. But neither Bill Clinton, Al Gore, nor Alan Greenspan will be able to continue the balancing act forever. When, not if, this economy cools down, the budget surplus will vanish, unemployment will increase, and those families that are working several jobs will be lucky to have just one.
At that time Al Gore will still own that ramshackle house and will certainly be able to find another tenant, but the Mayberrys have learned what it is like to do business with Al Gore. They know when it comes to landlords; he is not their choice. The White House doesn’t need a slumlord for its next resident.