Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Golf

Every now and then our local newspaper takes a brief break from printing anti Prop 8 letters to the editor and takes the time to fan the flames of class envy. This carefully crafted, well reasoned online comment is typical :

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“When the government spends money, the money goes to people -- that's called a job. When those people get money, they spend money. The people who get that money have jobs. The people who get that money, in turn spend it again and that creates more jobs.

If you can't figure that out, you must be a Republican.

On the other hand, when you give tax breaks to multimillionaires, they take the money and invest it in hedge funds. That doesn't create any jobs at all.”

This gifted economist shows not only that the California public school system is a massive failure but is but one example of how class envy has taken root. And if porkzilla is not bad enough, now we are facing the Golf Tax. Governor Arnold has proposed a golf tax that would, when combined with his proposed increase in sales tax, amount to an 8.75% tax on green fees according to the November 18,2008 San Diego Union-Tribune. The article also notes that other sports like bowling were not targeted for a tax. According to the California Alliance for Golf, the industry pumped $6.9 billion into California’s economy in 2006 although revenues are now down and dropping due to the economic downturn. According to The First Tee a golf organization, the “golf industry is the sports and entertainment worlds’ largest contributor to the US economy generating $76 billion in direct economic impact . . .” Indeed. In the Palm Springs area golf is pretty much the only industry. The Coachella Valley survives on tourism particularly the annual influx of “snowbirds”, our friends up north who own or rent winter homes in the sunny desert. Most of them come here to play golf. So it is to be expected that the proposal of a golf tax has been met with rousing support from ignorant liberals who cannot grasp the simplest of logical concepts. They are downright gleeful that those Evil Rich Republicans™ are going to finally have to pay their fair share! Perhaps once upon a time golf was reserved for the wealthy cigar smoking country club Republicans but no more. Not that it matters but golfers these days come in all ages, sizes and income levels. Only a liberal could fail to comprehend that raising the cost of a game of golf is going to have devastating consequences in a community that relies on golf revenue for its very existence. The Evil Rich Repulicans™ are the least likely to suffer as a result of this liberal idiocy. They can go play golf in Arizona or something. No local liberal has bothered to consider the number of employees it might take to maintain a golf course in pristine condition in the middle of the desert. Local libs have no interest in how many small businesses cater to the golf enthusiast and will be driven out of business by this insane economic policy. The hospitality industry is going to take a hit when nobody shows up at major tournaments because the courses have been turned into vacant lots. Our housing industry is only going to get worse with these kinds of stupid ideas. Nearly half of the local population keeps second homes here for the express purpose of playing golf. Some lease, others buy. Make it too expensive to play golf and what would be the point? Those champions of the little guy are at it again with another boneheaded move guaranteed to cause unemployment and financial ruin. Golf courses, restaurants, retailers, gardeners, landscapers, maintenance staff, hotels, motels; it’s difficult to think of a local industry that is not going to take a hit from this nonsense. There is of course no consideration being given to the possibility of reducing the state’s obscene spending . Golf may seem a trivial concern; it ranks up there with watching paint dry for me. But it is a legitimate industry and in Coachella Valley a crucial one. Pay close attention to this one. It’s not about the golf, it’s about fanning the flame of class warfare. It’s when the Haves and the Have Nots are at war with each other that we are at our most vulnerable. Dictators don’t take over when a population is content. In my upcoming book: Obamanutz: A Cult Leader Takes the White House, we look at the run up to a cult leader’s or dictator’s rise to power and the class warfare that softens the ground and makes a population vulnerable. There are many among us who stand to grab and hold power by keeping the class envy alive.