“When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,

Anything your heart desires will come to you…”

The lyrics sung by Walt Disney’s Jimminy Cricket are the perfect words for some political campaigns today.

The stages are set, the audience is carefully selected, the lights are at the ready, and the candidates walk in like rock stars to huge applause. When the audience finally quiets, the politicians speak words of wonder to the enthralled attendees.

They promise to take care of your health and hospitalization, give you money if you don’t have a job, house you – and, if you don’t pay the mortgage on your house, bail you out of it—.

They promise hope.

The cheers go up. Some people swoon. Camera flash bulbs pop.

There’s more pandemonium. And then, on just the right beat, the politicians continue with their promises to grant all wishes. They promise to punish those bad people who have worked hard all their lives, started businesses and made profits. Even though many people have been hired by those companies, and even more have invested and earn dividends from those companies, these politicians say the profits should be taken away and shared with all the people.

They talk about the high price of gasoline, but carefully avoid mentioning that we’re paying the high cost of foreign oil because they opposed any and all efforts to drill for gasoline right here at home.

They talk about the awful lobbyists who are controlling Washington, yet never mention the lobbyists they’ve worked with through the years.

They promise change. They talk of bringing a new day to America. They talk of bringing unity to a Congress that has been partisan for far too long. Yet they never mention that they have never, ever, reached across the aisle and attempted that unity.

They talk about the war and how they will end it immediately, or within months; yet, they’re oh so clever never to mention that the surge in Iraq is working, businesses are open, schools are being built, the electricity is working, people are working, the government is reaching agreements between factions, the death toll is down, peace is coming, the Al Qada is being pushed out, and an evil dictator who killed hundreds of thousands is dead.

Still, the people swoon.

They’re not looking at the bottom line of the cost of all this largesse the politicians are promising. They’re seemingly unaware of the trillions of dollars it will cost. They don’t seem to understand that making it difficult for American companies to make profits will cause those companies to employ fewer workers and, in some cases, simply close down.

No, the drum beat simply goes on.

It’s all so intriguing. Disneyesque.

When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires will come to you.

Problem is, with free enterprise at stake, and big government taking over, can America afford the price tag?

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Mary Laney, an award-winning TV journalist, is a regular columnist for The Chicago Daily Observer and serves on its editorial board.