Taxes - what do you owe???

[LovelyLadyLux]

This should be on the front page of every newspaper. J

Charley Reese's Final column!



A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.

Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.

Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so true.
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 work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!

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
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
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 (currently 44.75 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
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales 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 Nonrecurring 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, & 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 in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!

GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!

[Morgita]

Firstly, LLL, where do you find these things. It smacks of a chain letter and the only response chain letters merit is the breaking of the chain. This tells you all you need to know in the final few sentences. It harks back to an era very different from today in every respect. Do you want to turn the clock back to some supposed golden age? Lose all the advanced in medicine, education etc.? This nonsense is promulgated by people who believe that the infrastructure of society is built by the fairies. Schools,roads, police forces just appear as if by magic, never mind the sewers that carry their crap away.
Finally, even if the tax burden is too heavy or unfair, one can always stand for election to the five hundred plus on a platform of no taxation and participate in the democracy that America is so proud of. Didn't they have a revolution based on no taxation without representation?

[Horus]

Some good points raised there LLL, not dissimilar to the UK in most respects, but on the subject of taxation, how would you fancy paying a tax of around twice what you are paying per gallon, but PER Litre on fuel? because that is what we currently pay!

The last comparison I can give you on fuel taxes was for last year and ours have risen considerably since then, but based upon a common quantity of 1 US gallon (which is smaller than our UK gallon)

You would pay around 50.8 cents in tax which would be about 32 pence per US gallon in Sterling.

Here in the UK we pay the equivalent of $3.46 per US gallon in tax alone! Then you have to add the cost of the fuel itself, then …………………. When you add those two figures together! ………… you need to add another 20% to the total in another ‘Value Added Tax’ or VAT as it is known here.

How does that grab you? And remember ………………… we had North Sea oil for years!

[Morgita]

Sorry, LLL, I rather think I shot from the hip but I was incensed by the notion that life was so much better a hundred years ago. For very many it was nasty, brutish and short. I hold no particular brief for the government, of whatever party but what is the alternative? Anarchy? We need some form of regulation in society. At least Americans, like the British have the luxury of being able to complain about it without fearing for their lives. I do not have faith that all will be well if only people are left to their own devices. Our rights and freedoms are taken so much for granted while we grumble about the politicians. At least we can change them every five years or so. I can grumble with the best but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Ohhhhh Morgita I take no offense at all and I do get where you're coming from.

I actually posted this about taxes cause they personally drive me crazy. I have to file my tax return with the US which is then claimed by Canada and I also have to file taxes there as well. It is just file file file this time of year.......

I highly doubt times were 'better' per se 100 yrs ago BUT 100 years ago we didn't know anything else. I grew up real poor and never had a clue cause the only standard of measure I had were the neighbours next door and they were in about the shape we were. Now we unfortunately can communicate instantly. Now we KNOW and I kinda think our 'knowing' makes the (ahem) good old days seem better.

What I propose - is that everybody is taxed at one rate - i.e. 3% AND I propose that this 'tax' comes right off the top of our salary and it is the responsibility of the employer to pay it monthly to the gov't. I think we're inundated with taxes for everything. I wish somehow that ALL the taxes could be added into ONE category and be done with it.

[Horus]

I have to say that I disagree to some extent regarding the quality of life, OK we are all talking about 100 years here, but what about 50? Since the two world wars things did improve on a steady basis for most people and although I don’t want to hark back to some mythical utopian bygone age, I do consider that some things were better years ago. Our crime levels were lower, our tax burdens were overall lower, government interference in our lives was lower, we had less legislation and regulations imposed upon us, we were certainly a freer society and I would say a happier one. Today we have social this and social that, usually an excuse for someone to earn a nice living off the back of others as well as creating non jobs in various fields of welfare. If my own age group is representative, then we grew up with the most deprivation just after the second world war, ate the most meagre of food by today’s standards, wore mainly second hand clothes if you had an elder brother or sister, walked to school, played out in all weathers, were subjected to punishment for bad behaviour and the list would go on and on.

Did we turn out bad or were we any the worse for it, my answer would be an emphatic no, most of my childhood friends went on to be reasonably well educated and law abiding people, who worked for a living, got married and raised a family and as I recall did it with very little involvement of today’s plethora of social workers and nanny state organisations and before anyone says different, my generation was the most overstretched for national resources than any since the war. So what exactly do we get today for our taxes that we did not have back then? We had schools, we had libraries, our bins were emptied every week, we even had a health service, so I am afraid I do not buy into this idea that paying more taxes has made life better.

[Morgita]

Strange you should hark back to the post war era and complain about the welfare state in the same breath. The welfare state arose from the Beveridge report in the early forties and was implemented by the socialist government elected in 1945. The remit of the report was to tackle the "five giants" of idleness, disease, ignorance, want and squalor by central provision of health, social security, decent housing, free secondary schooling and labour exchanges to encourage employment. Most of the legislation bringing these in was passed between 1945and1950. You are a product of the welfare state more than any other generation before or since. Yes, your generation grew up healthy and strong precisely because of the "nanny state" you decry. Tenements were pulled down, the NHS kept you healthy and educational opportunities opened up.
I can't agree that the rise in crime confirms that there was little crime in our generation. I know that crime was under reported. Do you really think that child sexual abuse suddenly arrived in the last generation? If you look at the history of reported crime you would assume that child sexual abuse and rape are twentieth century crimes. I don't think so. I agree that we have not yet found solutions to the problem of safeguarding our children. We are still killing them at a rate of one a day. Again that might be assumed to be a new problem. Not so. If you read coroner's reports of the nineteenth and early twentieth century you will see a staggering rate of child deaths put down as accidents. Drownings, clothing catching fire, crushing in machinery etc. There is more than one way to neglect a child. After all children were assumed to be the possessions of their parents and society determinedly looked the other way. Societies to protect animals existed long before efforts to protect children.
I share your concerns about the tax burden and about how governments spend our taxes but looking to a mythical past with rose coloured spectacles doesn't help. My husband was a postwar baby. He got the opportunity to go to grammar school and university and make a life very different to his poor hardworking parents. Was he brighter or more capable than them? Probably not. He just had better opportunities. Let's not roll that clock back.

[Horus]

Morgita, thanks for the lecture, but I don’t really need it, I am not a product of the welfare or the nanny state, neither do I complain about it as you obviously assume that I do. My complaint is regarding all of those non jobs created by it and all the pseudo science that goes with it, those petty little organisations who always manage to insidiously insert themselves into every aspect of our lives because ‘they’ think it is good for us. To be honest I really object to you inflicting your obviously socialist views on what are my personal opinions regarding this topic, I for one object to the meddling attitude of this class of people who always seems to know what is best for us and assumes that we are all ignorant of our own national history. You forgot to mention the Old Age Pensions Act passed in 1908 by the Asquith government, the Free School Meals in 1909 and of course the National Insurance Act of 1911.

The Beverages proposals were not implemented until 1948 and you may be surprised to know that they did not come fully formed, in fact it took very many years to remotely resemble what we have in place today, so please do not be so condescending regarding others familiarity with Beverage and Labours subsequent adoption of his policies. I am fully aware of who paid for the National Health system, education and all the social benefits now freely enjoyed by many millions in this country and guess what? It was mainly my generation who contributed the most and oversaw the improvements you feel necessary to bring my attention to. In my own particular case I have just completed a 50 years of funding it, so please do not assume that I know nothing about it and I certainly don’t wear rose tinted glasses. People like myself have usually experienced too much in our lives to be labelled with crap like that and we certainly do not require the degree of nannying and interference in our lives that these unelected social engineering types would have us all believe that we require.

[Morgita]

Sorry if I offended, Horus, but my points were intended to be general rather than personal. We belong after all to the same generation and ultimately we would want things to be better for our children than it was for us. On the whole I do believe that is so. You clearly know your history so sorry if I was teaching my grand( father) to suck eggs. Many people do not, however. They assume that things are generally much as they have always been. They can't conceive of a time when people might die or be seriously disabled because they could not afford good quality health care. I know I tend to "lecture" but it's only because I worry that we might lose parts of our welfare system simply because we don't value it sufficiently. Not all public spending is necessary or useful and like you I am sometimes gob smacked by some of the job titles I hear. I while away many a happy hour wondering what some of theses people actually DO. But not all. We have in the past acknowledged our political differences without rancour. Long may we continue!

[Horus]

Possibly I am having a bad day, but like you I also care about our social services, especially when it comes to health and care for the elderly and vulnerable. I often despair at the treatment that is meted out by our so called caring society. However instead of addressing the important things we seemed to be obsessed with adding more and more layers of bureaucracy and non jobs that just overburden the system. Each level creates more costs and spawns yet another tier that needs financing with more pay and perks, not to mention index linked pensions, if ever there were a class divide in this country, it is between those in public sector jobs and those in the private sector who have to live with the reality of it all.