THE TYRANNY OF TAXES

 **This blog entry was written previously and is being reposted here.  I will post all of my previous articles here as a method to consolidate all articles in one location**

Have you ever asked yourself how much the government really takes from you on a monthly basis? And I am not just talking about the federal government but the state, county, and municipal governments.  None of us really think about all the taxes and fees that come out of our pockets.

Think about it.  You pay taxes on your income every paycheck; if those were the only taxes you paid life would be great.  But that is only the beginning, unless you live in Florida or Texas, you also have to pay state income taxes.  You go home with your check lightened by federal and state income taxes, Medicare, and social security taxes.  So you are driving home and realize that you need gas for you car; you stop at the gas station and fill up. You pay anywhere from 30-60 cents for each gallon of gas (that is between $4.50-$9.00 on a 15 gallon tank and $7.50-$15.00 on a 25 gallon tank.)  You get home and sit at the kitchen table with a calculator and the bills that have arrive by mail. You start writing checks; you pay your electricity bill plus taxes; natural gas bill plus taxes; water bill plus taxes and fees for sewer service; cable or satellite service plus taxes; internet services plus taxes; phone bill plus taxes and 911 fees; cellular phone service plus taxes plus taxes and surcharges.  You pay your mortgage and pay taxes through the escrow account.  With the money you have left you go out to eat and pay taxes on that. Buy a fountain drink at the convenience store and pay taxes on that. Buy a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine and pay taxes on that.  Buy clothes for you and your kids and pay taxes on that.  You buy tickets to a baseball game and pay taxes on that.  Go to the movies and pay taxes on that.  You pay taxes on all the consumables you need for your home from toilet paper to soap to toothpaste.  Any service that you need, from an oil change to a haircut, is taxed.  You can’t even take a vacation from it because your airline ticket, hotel and rental car are taxed.  Not a day goes by that you aren’t taxed in one way or another.  Obviously some places are worse than others.

It is a wonder we have any money left at all. We as a people need to demand a stop to all this taxation, demand relief from those whom we have empowered to represent us.  We are essentially suffering the same fate as the colonists prior to the revolution, with a twist: Taxation with misrepresentation. But it is our fault.  We have subjected ourselves to this tyranny. And we must take responsibility as a nation and as an electorate, to get ourselves out.  The Tyranny of Taxes is slowly taking away our liberty. We are evermore becoming indentured servants to the leviathan we call the Federal Government.  Worse yet, we are enslaving our children and grandchildren to a life of making the minimum payment on a multi-trillion dollar credit card just to keep ahead of the interest.

We work everyday in an effort to achieve the American Dream and instead of government that encourages our efforts we have one that impedes them.  Instead of creating an environment that is conducive to innovation the government has done everything it can to stifle it.  Rather than lower taxes to stimulate growth and expansion of the economy, our government raises taxes and discourages investment and entrepreneurialism.

Look around and ask yourself, is my money well spent?  Is it invested well?  Should I be forced to help pay for someone else’s house or brand new car?  Should I have been forced to by General Motors, Chrysler, or AIG?  Could I have used that money more efficiently?

Put it in perspective, since 2008, the federal government has spent:

  30 billion to bailout Bear Stearns

400 billion to bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

180 billion to bailout AIG

  25 billion to bailout GM and Chrysler

700 billion to bailout banks through the TARP program

787 billion in the “stimulus package”

    5 billion in earmarks included in the Omnibus bill

According to the US Census Bureau there were 281,421,906 people in the United States in the year 2000.
For easy math let’s say that there are currently, 300,000,000 legal citizens and residents today.  That would mean that if you added up all the spending, just for the programs and bailouts listed above, the government could have sent out a $7090 check to every man woman and child who is legally in the United States.  For a family of four, that would mean $28,360.

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $28,360!!

Ask yourself who knows better how to look after your family; you or a collection of 500 individuals in Washington D.C. who have never seen you, never talked to you, and seem unwilling to consider your future and the future of your children and grandchildren.  And don’t seem to understand that what they are doing not only affects us the people but our nation.  They are jeopardizing the future of the United States of America.