Tim Inwood - Cincinnatus Standard Contributor click here to email Tim Inwood

Hide Your Wallets, They Plan to Raise Your Taxes

Within 24 hours of first watching the coverage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse I kept feeling a violent tugging at my pants pockets. It was not imaginary. The tugging was from politicians and their liberal media allies suggesting we were not paying enough in taxes to pay for the upkeep of the national infrastructure. I went in to slow burn: "How stupid do they think we are?" I thought to myself.  We are heavily taxed in the United States and sadly the bulk of the money we send them is flat out wasted. To suggest we need to pay more taxes for anything is rubbish!

The liberal media sycophants took the cues from their Democrats masters and gave aid to them, telling us they had done new polls showing Americans were willing to pay more in taxes to make sure the bridges of America are safe. I am sure they did not ask us to think about what happened to the money already appropriated for that yet spent elsewhere. I don't remember too many in the press attacking Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) for redirecting money that was to be spent on the levies in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Instead that money went to her political cronies and donors for other things. Was she blamed for this misappropriation of funds? Heck No! They blamed President Bush for that!  They blamed him for this bridge collapse too. Never mind this bridge was rated as having problems way back in 1994 when the philandering, impeached President Bill Clinton was occupying the Executive Mansion. On August 13th I learned of a bridge collapse in the People's Republic of China--I suspect they will blame the President for that too--and probably want to spend our money to help the ChiComs. After all they are too busy using their own money to build up their military to attack Taiwan and probably us. We can't expect them to use their funds for their infrastructure.

Liberals, and sadly some Republicans, are quite willing to separate you from more of your meager treasure for their pet projects. Frequently those pet projects are absolute wastes of the people's money. Lefty politicians never seem interested in reducing taxes or government spending let alone eliminating unneeded obsolescent programs. Heck no. There is no glory for them in that. That is why up until a few years ago we were still paying a telephone tax that was created to pay for the Spanish-American War. Sometimes they just want to tax us because they can. They end up in deficit spending, wasting our money, and have to come up with new ways to get into our pockets. Recently the city of Chicago said they wanted to add a 25-cent tax on every bottle of water sold in that city. As usual they used class envy as the vehicle to obtain public support. "Those yuppies out there jogging with their bottle of water are not paying their fair share."  Cities disgust me as they frequently pull such stunts. Imagine a city adding a sales tax to pay for sports stadiums, privately owned stadiums at that. This is clearly unconstitutional... oh yes, I forgot Hamilton County did that. Sorry friends. You should oust every rat that pushed for that one.

They also force people to sell their homes via eminent domain so they can sell the property to someone who will develop the property into something that can be taxed at a higher rate or will simply generate more revenue. This is obscene and tramples the sacred concept of private property rights that is one of the foundation stones of the nation's birth.

Taxation is out of control. So is spending on things that would cause our Founding Fathers to shriek at us from their graves if they could. Pork Barrel spending, especially via earmarks, and the tactic of tacking on a spending project in secret (so that no one knows who the ratfink member of Congress is who is responsible for wasting our money to the tune of trillions of dollars a year) is something that must stop if we are ever to get a hold of this beast.

Spending bills that say they are for defense or homeland security should only include spending on those things that enhance the defense or security of the United States. However some of the fat cats on Capitol Hill can not seem to help sticking their fingers in the till to spend money on pork that helps them.

Some examples of pork barrel spending come with the latest defense appropriations bill. Of $10.8 billion dollars spent on national defense, a great deal is being siphoned away by 2,618 pork barrel projects that have been tacked on to the bill and have damned little to do with defending you or me. Good examples are these:

* $59,000,000 for medical research projects ranging from cancer to diabetes to gynecological disease.

What does this have to do with defense issues? Are we researching what to do if the enemy has blood sugar problems or a raging yeast infection?

* $5,500,000 added by the House for the Gallo Center.

According to its website, "The Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (EGCRC) at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF) was established in 1980 to study basic neuroscience and the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on the brain."  Here we go. Send a case of Gallo Cabernet Sauvignon across the enemy lines and get them drunk before we attack (If only Muslims drank booze). I loved the CAGW's (Citizens Against Government Waste) comment on this, "There is no mention of any defense-related research. Apparently, they will serve no pork before its time."

* $5,300,000 to study marine mammals, such as whales.

Frankly folks, I think the threat is from radical Islamists and not Orca, but what do I know?

Under Homeland Security "$225,000,000 was appropriated for port security grants." All fine and good if spent properly, but quite a bit of that money was allocated to small ports like the one at Martha's Vineyard. Only danger there is when Ted Kennedy is there with a car.

These samples of waste which are courtesy of the CAGW website. These examples are just a miniscule drop in the bucket of wasteful spending by our government. It truly is a crime what they do with our money. Some members of Congress are much worse than others in this regard.

There are members of Congress who have made expropriating the wealth of the USA for their purposes an art. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) has mastered sending all the money he can to West Virginia for his own glorification. You can't walk 100 feet in that state without tripping over something named after the man; a slight exaggeration of course, but not by that much.

Representative Charles Rangel of New York recently snuck in an earmark, which includes a couple million dollars for the construction of a building that will be named for him. Democrats are very generous with other people's money, especially when it goes to their own self-glorification. Like Caesar and Cleopatra they can't help but raise monuments to themselves. But we pay for it.

Frightening is the attitude of some of these elected officials towards private property rights. Heart stopping is the Presidential ambitions of some of them. Case in point is Senator Hillary Clinton. She has made clear she regards private property as something she can confiscate for her own personal goals. I hope my fellow Americans were paying attention on Feb. 2 when Hillary Clinton commented on Exxon oil profits, "I want to take those profits and put them into an alternative energy fund."

Isn't it frightening that this woman thinks she has or should have the power to confiscate profit from anyone in the United States and then spend it as she sees fit!

The United States was founded on rugged individualism and capitalism. Any citizen could reach their dreams by hard work and reap the rewards of their labors. It's disturbing to watch the Democrats and so many of the Democrat Presidential contenders embracing the antithesis of our founding principles. On May 29, Hillary Clinton said it was time to replace an "on your own" society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity: "What the Bush administration touts as an ownership society really is an "on your own" society that has widened the gap between rich and poor."

She went on to say, "I prefer a 'we're all in it together' society, I believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none." Then she gushed, "Fairness doesn't just happen. It requires the right government policies." In other words, she intends to redistribute wealth by the force of government power. Collectivism means theft of private property by government. It is bewildering and frightening that from where we began as a nation we have now arrived at point such things can be said and the politician uttering it has not been keel-hauled. Worse there are people applauding such idiocy!

Hillary's words I have cited above are not new. I have heard her words before, phrased differently. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." A nasty chap named Karl Marx uttered those words, but they mean the same thing Senator Clinton is saying. Those words have inspired others such as Lenin and Stalin. Hillary's vision is sadly not much different apparently.

Forget getting an education and working as hard as you can. There is no point if Hillary wins in '08, or any Democrat for that matter, especially if the Democrats continue to control the Congress. You make an effort to better yourself and you will inflame the sensibilities of some leftist bureaucrat who will put his foot on your face and shove you backwards, while calling you a "Winner in life's lottery" who must be punished. Then to make things fair the government will take your earnings via punitive taxation and give it to someone else who has not earned it.

Her vision and the goals of most liberals will kill the incentive to work hard and get ahead. Why work hard when you will be punished with punitive taxation for your efforts?

Most people get turned off when you point out someone is a communist, but if you examine the facts it is clear where she wants to take us. Sadly some of us know history tells us where it goes. Others will refuse to believe it can happen. We must convince our fellow Americans they do not want to go there. This nightmare scenario can only be avoided by electing the right people to office.  Friends, I implore you, please get involved in the primary process. Ask the politicians how they will approach the problems that concern you and where they intend to take us. I ask them to kill earmarks and support bills to make all members of Congress put their name to each piece of spending legislation they slip into a bill. Transparency and responsibility is how we will get a hold on spending. I also look for those candidates who will support the ''fair tax.''  By doing this I know I am doing my part to get what I want in national leadership. Actions along those lines is the only way we will put the right people in place to make the right decisions for us. Our Republic only works if good people get involved and pay attention. Don't let them distract you with ''bread and circuses'' as in the days of the Roman Empire.

At the moment the future looks somewhat bleak. The Democrats hold Congress and look to have a very good chance of taking the White House.  That will happen if you do nothing. Many of our conservative friends sat on their hands and did not vote last November to send the Republicans a message. What they should have done was oust the rascal they wanted out of office in the primary and put in someone good to run in the general election, but that is water under the bridge now.

Learn from the mistake. What I am telling you now is this: you must get involved in the process now. Lots of good people are raising money to run for office now. Find them and help them win office. For our nation and your own good I implore you to do this. Otherwise my friends you might as well bury great grandma's silver tea set in the back yard to save it from the taxmen the liberals are prepared to send out to shake us down.

Our ancestors overthrew a British tyrant over a very small tax on stamps and tea. If our forebears could see how we are taxed now, they would curse us for being intellectually lazy and allowing their creation to become such a monstrosity. Make them proud and do your part in restoring the United States to what we once were: a nation of free men paying just enough in tariffs that we had just enough government to protect us and meet the basic needs of running the country. It can be done, but not without you.

Don't buy this rubbish that you are not taxed enough.

Tax liberation day for most Americans falls in May now. That is to say every blessed penny you make until the month of May goes directly to pay your taxes to the Federal, State and local government. Any politician who says you need to pay more in taxes should be tarred, feathered and given a vicious wedgie in my opinion. You can quote me on it.

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