MESSAGING! This is why messaging is critically important!
They started with the meme "tax relief" - which implies that taxes are something we need relief from. Ie: taxes are bad.
And this is how it's been portrayed for decades, until the public mentality has been allowed to soak it in. Taxes are what we all contribute toward the greater public good.
And that's how we have to take the whole idea back. The whole concept here. They have to be reframed! Regulations - NO! Protections YES!!!
Nobody ever bothers to try to point out WHAT we pay taxes FOR. WHY we pay taxes in the first place. Instead of portraying taxes as just something negative, we need to keep reminding everyone about WHAT. WE. PAY. THOSE. TAXES. FOR.!
Like, for example, decent schools.
Decent quality water to drink.
Decent air to breathe.
Clean earth that your kids play in - that's not filled with toxins and chemical dumping.
Decent roads on which to drive and walk and bike.
Crime-stopping.
National security - of ALL kinds, not just that from the point of a soldier's gun.
National Security. I submit it's more than just borders and troops in foreign lands supposedly fighting for capitalism.
NATIONAL SECURITY. It involves the following:
Your right to sleep at night - because you're not worried about how you'll afford decent health care - for you AND your family.
Your right to feel safe - whether you're white OR black OR brown, when you simply drive to the store or visit the 7/11, from overbearing aggression by mad-dog cops.
Your right to feel safe - for women, inside your gynecologist's office.
Your right to safety - to go to school, a concert, a cineplex, a park, a pizza joint, a store or mall - and know that some nut with a gun and a chip on his shoulder (it's about 98% male offenders - mostly Anglo, too) won't put your life in danger.
Your right to sleep at night - because you're not worried about how to make ends meet on your job that doesn't pay you a living wage.
Your right to vote - UNFETTERED by partisans hot to take that right away.
This, too, is national security. And your tax money helps pay for all the costs racked up therein.
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