Free Mike's Election Guide by Michael Moore Page B

your thirties or forties.
    And how much are you paying each year in child-care costs? That’s day care, baby sitters, pre-school, and other caregivers. Some pay $200 a month, some pay $400 a week. We don’t call that a tax, but that’s what it is. And I’m not even talking about what you are paying at your kid’s PUBLIC school for band, art, sports, driver’s ed—all the stuff that used to be free. You still pay the property and income taxes for the public schools—and these days, thanks to so many corporate tax breaks where billion-dollar companies are paying either half or none of what they should be paying, you now pay a larger personal share—but you don’t get the same free services you used to get.
    And that, I believe, is what’s at the core of our American tax dissatisfaction. We hate, and I mean HATE, paying taxes in the U.S. It’s not that the French
love
paying taxes, but there is nowhere near the level of grumbling in France as there is here. And no wonder.
They actually get something in return for all the taxes they pay! Never have to worry about getting sick. Never have to worry about who will look after the kids. Never have to worry about sending their sons and daughters off to college (or off to war).
    They pay for all this peace of mind with their income taxes—and they get it back in spades.
    We, on the other hand, pay all these taxes and can’t even get a pothole fixed. We can’t even be certain when we drop a letter in the mail it will ever reach its destination. I’m looking out the window at an empty lot across the street that hasn’t been mowed all summer. Wanna catch a city bus in Detroit? Don’t forget to bring
War and Peace
to read while you’re waiting at the bus stop.
    Instead of services to benefit us and our families, our taxes go to waging two wars, lining the pockets of military contractors, handing out welfare to oil companies that turn around and rob us at the pump, and other rip-offs.
    No wonder we’re mad. Meanwhile, the French are having sex.
    5.Ban All Commericals in Movie Theaters.
    Mr. President, does this one really need any explanation? When you go to the movie theater, you’re there to see a movie, not a screeching ad for Chevrolet. You have left the house because you don’t want to watch TV. You have paid for a baby sitter, the gas in the car, the $10 movie ticket, and the $7 popcorn. You have done so in order to escape into the magic of the cinema. But before you can watch the latest Coen Bros. masterpiece, you must first be reminded that you’d be having a lot more fun if you were sitting at home playing the latest version of Grand Theft Auto.
    Because the theater chains think the public is stupid (and why shouldn’t they when they see people line up at their door eager to pay ten bucks for
Saw IV
), they think we won’t mind sitting there through 20 minutes of TV commercials. Remember when it was just one ad? Nobody objected, so they just kept adding more. Now whole companies are devoted to creating 20-minute packages of 30-second ads to blast at you once the lights dim and you think you’re about to see a couple of previews and then the feature.
    In 2007, movie theaters raked in $417 million in ad revenue from these pre-movie screenings, up 15 percent from the previous year, making this one of the fastest-growing types of advertising.
    But why stop at just showing ads before
movies
? How about Pepsi commercials each day as Congress is called to order? Viagra ads on the curtain before a Broadway play? Victoria’s Secret spots shown to the faithful before Mass?
    The new president needs to ban all ads other than the “Coming Attractions” in our nation’s cinemas. If you want to help him with a head start, let your local theater know that you did not come here to watch TV. And let the advertisers know, too. Go to www.captiveaudience.org to join the protest movement.
    After enacting this ban, the new president should ensure that no bag of popcorn costs