Dear Editor, For years, we’ve been told to sit down, shut up, and keep paying. Pay more in taxes, work longer hours, make do with less, and—above all—don’t ask where the money is going.
Well, folks, the bill has come due. And surprise, surprise—the checkbook is empty. What you are not changing, you are choosing.
The “New Normal” Is a Scam
Somewhere along the way, they convinced us that this is just the way things are now:
• You work 60+ hours a week just to survive.
• Homeownership is a pipe dream.
• Having a stay-at-home parent is a luxury reserved for the ultra-wealthy.
• Food costs more. Energy costs more. Breathing, for all we know, could be taxed next.
And yet, through all this, the government keeps spending like a spoiled rich kid who’s never had to work a day in his life.
We’ve been conditioned to accept this, but let me say it again: What you are not changing, you are choosing.
Every hour you trade away, every missed dinner with your family, every extra shift just to keep the lights on—it’s all turned into tax dollars that disappear into the abyss faster than you can say “balanced budget.”
The Government Is Not “Broke”—It’s Robbing You
They love to tell us that “we” don’t have enough money. That the government is broke, and that you need to fork over more cash to “fix” things.
Let’s be clear: the government isn’t broke. It’s just using your money to pay for everything except what actually benefits you.
Ask yourself: If there’s no money for roads, schools, or affordable housing, why is there always money for…
• Programs that have nothing to do with actual Americans?
• Bailouts for billion-dollar corporations?
• Endless studies on things no one cares about?
California, for example, is spending billions on things that don’t make your life better—all while telling us we need higher taxes to “save” the state.
And when you ask where the money went? They act offended that you’d even question them.
This is the system we’ve been given, but what you are not changing, you are choosing.
Legacy Media: The Government’s Favorite Welfare Recipients
Here’s a fun one: While you’re working two jobs to pay your bills, corporate media is getting handouts from the very government they’re supposed to be holding accountable.
Ever wonder why no major outlet is leading the charge against waste, fraud, and abuse? Because they’re on the payroll.
This is why the same media that screamed “DANGER TO DEMOCRACY” over a tweet is now crying “CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS” because their funding is drying up.
Meanwhile, they refuse to ask the hard questions:
• Why does California, with 14% of the population, take 35% of the nation’s welfare spending?
• Why are billions of dollars going to foreign aid while Americans struggle to afford groceries?
• Why are we told we must “tighten our belts” while politicians burn through taxpayer money like it’s Monopoly cash?
Because if you never see the problem, you never demand change. But what you are not changing, you are choosing.
Local Control: The Only Way Out
We can’t fix Washington. We can’t fix Sacramento. But we can fix our own communities.
That means:
✅ Keeping tax dollars in our cities instead of sending them to bureaucratic black holes.
✅ Electing people who actually represent us—not political lifers.
✅ Demanding actual transparency in local budgets.
The Golden Age isn’t gone—it’s been stolen. But here’s the thing: We can take it back.
And it starts with saying NO—to waste, to corruption, and to politicians who treat our labor like their personal piggy bank.
Because what you are not changing, you are choosing.
Porterville, it’s time to stop playing along. The reckoning is here.
Respectfully, Josh Flowers From Porterville, CA.
