30 Oct 07 A Taxing Poem
At first I thought this was funny…then I realized the awful truth of it.
Be sure to read all the way to the end!
——————————————————————————–
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he’s fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he &nb sp;
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid.
Put these words
upon his tomb,
” Taxes drove me to my doom…”
When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax ( 4 2 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What the hell happened? Can you spell “politicians!”
And I still have to “press 1″ for English.
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times
15 Oct 07 World Health Care Debate
Japanese doctor says, “Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in six weeks.”
A German doctor says, “That is nothing. We can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in four weeks.”
A British doctor says, “In my country medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have both of them out looking for work in two weeks.”
The American doctor, not to be outdone, interjected, “You guys are way behind. We are about to take a woman with no brains, put her in the White House, and then half the country will be out looking for work.
(Author unknown)
03 Oct 07 Raising the national dept cap, What a Shame!
While recently reviewing my states senators’ votes, I found that they have both voted to increase the statutory limit on our national dept from 9 trillion to 9.8 trillion dollars. Although 800 billion dollars may not seem like much to our congress, it is a significant amount of money. At some point, it is essential for individuals to live within their means. The same should be true of the government.
Our congress spends little time or effort in looking to cut spending. The federal government provides services that go far beyond its constitutional mandate, and even beyond what any reasonable person would expect. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew at what rates we are taxed, or saw the size of our government. The sad thing is that even in the face of unprecedented spending, the issue that will define the 2008 campaign will be a health care package that will raise taxes even more and increase our dept.
When will we realize it is time to cut back? When will our congress be willing to cut programs and reduce budgets to our federal agencies? We can blame the politicians, but in reality, the problem is with the people. We as a society are expecting the government to provide more for us. We expect the government to fund our schools, build our roads, support the arts, provide health benefits, take care of the poor, bail us out from failures, help us recover from disasters, and protect our freedoms. Granted the government should play a role in some of these areas, but we as a society need to look first to ourselves, then to our families, and then to the community to help us overcome our problems or challenges. Until we are willing to solve a few of our own problems, rather than looking for solutions from the government this ridiculous trend of spending will continue.
17 Sep 07 Teachers Unions out to hurt Education again!
In a previous article I discussed how the No Child Left Behind Law was seriously flawed and how it flies in the face of conservative values. I keep that position but I have read an article today about something that both of the major teacher unions are vigorously fighting against. It seems that there as a provision in the bill that gives a bonus to teachers who teach their students well. Wow! There is something that actually makes sense in the new law. What a novel concept, rewarding teachers for being a good teacher. Apparently according to the Unions this is appalling. Both the AFT and the NEA could never support anything that would differentiate between good and bad teachers. Who cares that in every area except education and government, employees compensation is strongly tied to performance. One statement made the teachers unions logic clear they said that they oppose any measure that provides teachers compensation without first going through collective negotiations. The unions are simply afraid of loosing control. How would it go over among there membership if a teacher was given a bonus without the union fighting for it. Maybe that employee would begin to wonder if the union is really of value to them. I have been a teacher for 10 years, and it only took me three to realize that the unions were far more detrimental to education than they are a help. I found out that the liability insurance that they provide can be purchased for a fraction of what my union dues were. The Unions will fight against anything and everything that reduces there power or influence, even if it is to the detriment of our teachers, and our students. For them power is the most important factor.
11 Sep 07 Politicizing 9-11?
Many of the liberal talkers keep going on about how Bush, and republicans are politicizing the tragic events of 9-11. Perhaps they are right if they means that the administration is using the memories of those tragic events to help push through legislation and policies that make our country safer. If it means that they incite the memories of that day to stir patriotism and support for our troops, our police, our firefighters, and our emergency medical personnel. If it means that the brutality of that terrible day is used to remind us of the cruelty of our enemy, and there willingness to kill each and every one of us. If it means that we remind people of the dangers that await us if a weak terrorism policy comes into play. Well I guess conservatives are politicizing 9-11. How dare we care about our Americans enough to use the memories of this tragedy to make our country a better safer place?
10 Sep 07 No Child Left Behind has no place in conservative politics
Here we sit in the midst of debate on the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. The passage of any real changes in NCLB is unlikely, and therefore we are set to continue on with a broken law. When Bush signed NCLB into law, he implemented the largest intrusion of the Federal Government into local schools that has ever been implemented. The law threatened and in many cases took away much of the control of local school districts. No Child Left Behind goes against the very heart of conservative principles, and yet we see many conservatives are singing the praises of NCLB. Besides the intrusion of the Federal Government in to what should be under local control this law has many inherent problems. It sets up schools for automatic failure at some point, which then starts a chain of events that effectively puts the federal government in control.
Following are inherent key flaws in the NCLB.
1. When fully implemented 100% of students must pass a test that is graded on a bell curve. Many of the state standardized tests are norm referenced which means that a certain percentage of the students must fail, if they do not they adjust the scores needed to pass that some students fail. They do this to adjust for the change in questions that may make one test easier one year than the other. You can do the math all you want, but it is impossible to have your entire student pass a test that is graded on a curve.
2. No Child Left Behind does not account for differences in ability. It is nice to think that everybody can succeed, but the fact is that all men are not created equal. Some people are not genetically blessed enough to be neurosurgeons. Maybe it’s biased to suggest that some people are smarter than others, but that is the way life is. That doesn’t mean that we just let students who are less intelligent drop by the wayside, It is up to the local districts and schools to ensure that they receive the best possible education. But setting unrealistic Federal standards is not the direction we should be going.
3. NCLB Rewards failing schools, and punishes succeeding schools. Schools that fail receive a mass influx of federal funds, and as soon as success is mad the funds are pulled. I understand that we believe that if we through enough money into something that is failing eventually they will succeed, you would think that after all of the years of failures in our Federal Government that we would learn that this doesn’t work, but I guess that they are slow learners.
I was going to discuss that the increased standards have encouraged cheating, and teaching to the test, but that is the fault of the individuals involved, and not the law. NCLB is a step in the wrong direction for the American Education System and we need to encourage our senators to make significant changes in the law, if not repeal it entirely.
06 Sep 07 Ron Paul on Taxes
Working Americans like lower taxes. So do I. Lower taxes benefit all of us, creating jobs and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives.
Our tax rate is way out of hand, and our federal government is to large. We agree that continued tax cuts are beneficial.
Whether a tax cut reduces a single mother’s payroll taxes by $40 a month or allows a business owner to save thousands in capital gains taxes and hire more employees, that tax cut is a good thing. Lower taxes allow more spending, saving, and investing which helps the economy — that means all of us.
Real conservatives have always supported low taxes and low spending.
But today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don’t cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future — and yours.
In addition, the Federal Reserve, our central bank, fosters runaway debt by increasing the money supply — making each dollar in your pocket worth less. The Fed is a private bank run by unelected officials who are not required to be open or accountable to “we the people.”
The Federal Reserve does hold a valuable place in our society. And adding money to a growing economy is important to ensure that all people have the opportunity of the American dream, not just an elite few who currently have the money. Policies that put the control of the federal reserve in the hands of congress are asking for financial disaster. If you need proof look at the abuse of tax dollar spending that Ron Paul has mentioned. We should not eliminate the Federal Reserve, and it should not be run by politicians.
Worse, our economy and our very independence as a nation is increasingly in the hands of foreign governments such as China and Saudi Arabia, because their central banks also finance our runaway spending.
This is a tough issue, because I firmly believe that the more the government stays out of economic issues issues, the better of our economy is. But the Financial control that other countries hold is a threat to national security. I Reluctantly support putting limits on the amount of control foreign governments have on our economy.
We cannot continue to allow private banks, wasteful agencies, lobbyists, corporations on welfare, and governments collecting foreign aid to dictate the size of our ballooning budget. We need a new method to prioritize our spending. It’s called the Constitution of the United States.
I agree that we need to return to the constitution when it comes to government spending. Which when it comes down to it includes federal law enforcement, providing for the common defense, establishing foreign trade agreements, keeping the post office viable, and in a stretch maintaining Interstates (Postal routes as the constitution said), and maintaining the copyright and patent office. I wonder if Ron Paul is willing to restrict the Federal Government to these areas.
06 Sep 07 08 Presidential canadates point by point
Over the next few months we will take a look at the policy statements written by candidates from their own websites. We will then insert our views on the issues. Other issues surrounding candidates may be discussed on this site, but I believe a candidate should be judged on there policy and beliefs. I look forward to addressing theses issues so that we all can make a better decision.
05 Sep 07 Is the Fair Tax Fair?
My initial response to reading about (HR 25, S 1025) labeled the “Fair Tax Act” was one of excitement. The Fair Tax key points include:
- Abolishes the IRS
- Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
- Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
- Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
- Allows American products to compete fairly
- Reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities
- Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
- Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck
Many of these things seem very appealing, especially the elimination of the huge overgrown bureaucracy, the IRS. But there are still some inherent flaws in the Fair Tax Act. First I will say that these flaws are found in our current tax system, but Conservative Ed’s policy is to address every issue from a conservative perspective, and give unbiased opinions about the issues.
Key Problems with the Fair Tax:
- Reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities, This is not a true reimbursement because it is based on income level rather than actual spending. It would be possible for someone with a large family to live on the rebate with a part time job. Also it discourages hard work and effort for those that are on the edge of loosing the rebate.
- May cause inflation. Some economist believe that the tax would lead to inflation. This is not proven, but I have heard this argument many times.
- It discourages spending. Companies spend millions of dollars trying to determine the maximum price consumers willing to spend on their products, tacking an extra 23% will likely reduce sales and could have an economic impact.
Despite the challenges and problems in this program it is much better than our current system. and the key concepts of this bill are still very sound. Our current tax system is a mess and major reform is needed. Of the options that are being put on the table this bill is the most aggressive and is the best option. Through the legislative process we can address some of the issues that effect the bill.
02 Sep 07 Benefits of the Housing Crisis
President Bush implemented measures to to soften the blow of the so called housing crisis. The fact is that the so called crisis is not really a crisis. Will a lot of investors loose money both in the lending industry and in the speculative housing market. Yes! and will many home owners who got in over their heads loose there home? The answer to that is also yes. But these are necessary side effects for a free economy to function properly.
The real crisis began a few years ago when real estate prices were growing at rapid rates. Two factors need to be in place for proper housing inflation to take place. First the average citizen needs to be able to afford housing. In many of the hot areas this was not the case in the heat of the housing boom. In order to get this to work many lenders issued creative loans to get people into homes that were far beyond their means to pay them back. The other issue is that investors should at minimum be able to make loan payments on a 10 year business loan with the rent. Prices of real estate inflated far beyond what the market could afford in rental incomes. The Real Estate market simply had gone to high to sustain itself. When this happens a correction is necessary at some point. The worst thing that can happen as this correction is for the government to get involved and try to minimize the effects of that correction. Unfortunately President Bush has interfered making the correction that must take place a more drawn out and long term process. He has reduced the impact of poor lending practices which left as is the industry would have self corrected the issues. our legislature is also likely to step in and put more unnecessary regulations on the industry.
We need to recognize that the best way to make a free economy work is to let it run it’s course. Government regulation and interference only makes things worse.
