Posted on 10/22/2008 9:40:48 AM PDT by summernot
It is simultaneously the worst political ad I’ve ever seen and the best. So I guess that makes it so bad it’s good.
And it’s not exactly funny, though it is humorous.
I’m talking about a 30-second television ad from Don Zimmerman, Republican candidate for Travis County tax assessor-collector. In the ad, titled “Kidneys for Taxes,” the camera quickly pans foot to head on a man (Zimmerman?) sitting in a bathtub filled with ice. A line of blood runs from the man’s midsection to the tub’s edge, where it trickles onto the floor. The voiceover — vaguely similar to the voice you hear in movie previews or NFL highlight films — says:
Local government is growing four times faster than your paycheck. The economy is tanking. Property taxes are bleeding us dry. This guy just sold a kidney to pay his property tax bill. We can’t afford 16 more years of the incumbent tax collector. It’s time to stop the bleeding. On Nov. 4, let’s elect Don Zimmerman.
Apparently, the ad’s been up about a week, but I first saw it the other night while flipping through the channels around 10:30. It pays homage (I’m being generous here) to the old urban legend about the drugged traveler who wakes up in an ice-filled hotel bathtub to discover that one of his kidneys has been stolen.
I’m a little confused about the ad’s message, since the role of county tax assessor-collector is right there in the job title: to assess and collect property taxes. (Other duties include registering cars and voters.) The Travis County Commissioners Court sets tax rates and determines the county’s budget. So wouldn’t Zimmerman have a greater influence over our property taxes and how they’re spent if he ran for county commissioner rather than tax assessor-collector? Then again, since he calls himself the “anti-tax assessor-collector,” maybe not.
Zimmerman has a similar ad titled “Taxpayers Welcome Change.” In it, he has to give up his car, clothes, home and a body part or three to pay his property taxes. “I love taxpayers, but I hate taxes!” he says.
Indeed.
But if you could sell your kidneys, then they would be in fact property. Couldn’t the tax assessors tax you on the value of all the vital organs in your body that you could sell?
Which, of course, MEANS you are RENTING IT from government.. i.e. land, vehicles, trailers, boats RV's etc..
Displaying the "wonders" of socialism.. humorously..
Although NOT funny.. it is humorous..
Believe it or not, this guy attended a few Freeper meetings in my home. I can’t remember if he had a freeper name, though.
Believe it or not, this guy attended a few Freeper meetings in my home. I can’t remember if he had a freeper name, though.
Why would a Republican be in Austin?
The seller of the kidney would be subject to Capital Gains tax on the kidney sale. But Obama would reduce that activity by increasing the Cap Gains tax rate. My hero!
Under Obama, if you are a rich person, you’ll have to give share the kidney weatlth with a poor person.
Rich people will have a kidney tax increase and 95% of Americans will get a kidney tax cut.
Ugh. I wrote a short story on this a few years ago. Guy sold a kidney to a willing buyer to pay for college, was then caught. For denying a “loyal citizen” the kidney, he was sentenced to death to make up for what he “took”. (Other kidney taken for the queue, and all his other organs, too.)
I'll set aside some of my Barnett Shale money to assure their defeat. They can take that to the bank.
This ad is right on the mark. And yes, I feel like I do have to sell a kidney to pay my property tax!
You need to sell more than just a kidney to meet property taxes now.
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