We’re All in This Together

“We’re all in this together.”

That’s what Robert DeNiro kept saying as he risked his life to help people against an oppressive government in the futuristic movie “Brazil.”

A new poll says DeNiro is right, or at least most Americans agree that “we’re all in this together.” Specifically, 67 percent want their representative to look past the narrow interests of their district or region and work for what’s best for the country as a whole.

It’s an old political trick to play on divisions between states, regions, races, nationalities, and religions. The idea is to distract voters. Instead of worrying about what we get from Washington for the tax dollars we spend, they want us to look at what we get compared to some other group.

The politicians want you to think they bring home the bacon. But what they don’t want you to consider is that even in the fattest pork district in the country, the average taxpayer pays a lot more in taxes than they get back.

Career politicians beat their chests about returning a few pennies on the dollars you fork over. They conveniently fail to mention that they voted for wasteful spending in every other district in order to get their pet pork project passed. We all end up poorer, not richer. And the only ones fighting this “rob Peter to pay Paul” mentality are the representatives who limit their time in Congress.

Americans understand that their district won’t truly benefit from policies that hurt the entire country. The career politicians are always trying to separate us, but the American people know we’re all in this together.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.