Bluff

There is an article in todays Salt Lake Tribune about an online gambling site called PokerShare.com who is trying to essentially "purchase" the name of Bluff, a small town in southern Utah, for $100,000 in return for the town changing it's name to PokerShare.com. Apparently the mayor and most of the towns 250 citizens are in favor of the purchase since it would give the town some much needed revenue.

In my opinion, this is what is wrong with America! It makes me sick that any corporation would be allowed to use private money to purchase something as public as a town name! It is not a corporations duty to take care of the fiscal needs of a small city or town, it is the taxpayers! If the town is short on cash, they shouldn't be allowed to look to corporations for money. They should be forced to deal with the issue locally and either raise taxes or cut expenses to deal with the problem. This policy should go for schools, police departments and any other form tax payer funded government institution as well. The problem lies in the blatant disregard of the truth by canidates running for public office. A canidate would much rather falsely campaign for lower taxes, than address the real issue which is that most cities are deep in debt and getting deeper. If a city was an individual, I'm curious how he would ever get out of debt by constantly trying to lower his salary while increasing his expenses? That is essentially the platform most politicians campaign on during nearly every election.

The politicians are not the only ones to blame however, we as Americans are the true simpletons. If we would use an ounce of our brains and actually examine the problems facing our government, and each candidates proposal to correct those problems, we would begin to pull ourselves out of this pit we are sinking into. Instead however, it seems most Americans are content with voting for whatever candidate promises to lower taxes, and fighting over how much we should fine Howard Stern for saying "boob" on the radio. If you want to be the average unconcerned and ignorant American citizen, you'll have to do so living in Wal Mart, Colorado or 1800Contacts.com, Washington. Enjoy your new address!