TAX FREEDOM DAY? REALLY??

April 24^th will come and pass without most Americans realizing its significance.

But it happens to be the day known as “Tax Freedom Day.”

You'll believe anything!

That sounds really cool.

This is a day for us to celebrate.

So why does it go unnoticed?

Well for one reason it’s not real.

We don’t stop paying tax on April 24^th and in fact most of us will continue to pay taxes every day for the rest of our lives.

And taxes are taken out of every paycheck and collected on most if not all sales.

So how is April 24^th a day of tax freedom?

Well if workers added up their entire gross salary for every day they worked from the start of the year and gave every penny to the government April 24^th would be the day they have paid their entire tax bill for the year.

April 24th? Hah!

In other words they finally start working for themselves!

Of course if you add all the other costs you must pay then the day gets moved a little further down the calendar.

For example if you add up all the money you pay to insurance companies of all sorts and utility companies who must be fed you might actually be depressed to note that not even the first eight months of the year are yours to keep!

But let’s just talk taxes.

The above scenario only actually affects the middle class.

How can this be you might ask.

Well the poor and homeless among us do not earn enough to survive let alone pay taxes so they are not affected.

And large corporations and the wealthiest among us, or rather above us as they would prefer be called pay little or no taxes to begin with and in some case are even rewarded with subsidies as is the case with that poor indigent corporation Exxon.

For this group Tax Freedom Day actually comes and passes at the one second mark of January the first every year.

So armed with the knowledge that the middle class pays most of the taxes in America one might think that they are the most important group and should be protected.

Surely if they are not around anymore then America will not have enough revenue to operate!

So how come one political party in particular is trying to squeeze them out of existence?

Glaciers? Glacier?
We don't need no stinkin Glaciers!!

Perhaps it is for the same reason they also wish to ignore that Global Climate change is caused by human actions and could eventually ruin the environment so vital to our future.

And that reason is pandering to the wealthy!

Most large corporations and the people who run them make their money by ignoring the environmental consequences of their actions.  Following rules and regulations can cut into your profit margin.

And if you are sued for negligence that causes a death here and there or an oil spill that kills thousands of creatures and pollutes the environment your attorneys can drag things out until the public forgets and a lawmaker is convinced to slap you on the wrist and move on.

You see when you don’t have to worry about money or taxes for that matter you are free to spend as you like.

And what better way to spend your money than to buy and own a government!

Art Pope is not a Pope!

When billionaire right winger Art Pope bought the elections in North Carolina he populated the legislature with his cronies and placed himself as the States’ Budget Director.

In that role he decided to stop funding the States education system.  He also fired the head of the State’s education system for no apparent reason and then blocked certain courses from their medical school on what might appear to be religious grounds!

Former head of NC School system
Tom Ross never saw what hit him.
He was too intelligent to think
anyone could be so stupid!

The school, University of North Carolina, UNC was once considered the bright spot in the State and one of the top medical schools in the nation.  It is now in danger of losing its accreditation as a medical school.

What a tremendous blow not only to education in North Carolina but to the State as a whole.

But megalomaniac Art Pope is not alone in his dream of total control.  The Koch brothers are scheming to steal National elections and are currently working to place their favorite son, Scott Walker in the White House. (Please click the links for more information!)

Vote for me
AND MY FAMILY!

In a plot straight out of “The Omen” if this happens look out America, or rather look out American Middle Class!

When and if these men and others like them realize their dreams the American Dream will devolve into a nightmare.

And if that comes to pass Tax Freedom Day for those of us still around will most likely be pushed back to late December.

You Don't Play the Game...

An old joke, when the Pope was Italian was made every time he made a statement about marriage: “You don’t play the game; you don’t make the rules!”  Of course it was made with a derogatory Italian accent but I’ll let that go here since even if I wanted to convey it it would be a bit hard in print.

However the same can and should be said about Congress and their controllers in the vastly wealthy “K” Street world of lobbyists.

When Congress tinkers with our taxes or even our healthcare they are doing so from outside the sphere of reality.  They can raise or lower our costs at will and not be affected one cent by their actions.

But every time a politician says, “We ought to do…” or “What we need to have done is…” he ends up taking another tiny bit out of the middle class’ pocket books.

Their can be no denying the fact that the income and wealth gap has been widening at an alarming rate over the last 3 decades and continues to do so even as I write this.

And I do believe that I can state without fear of successful contradiction that the wealthiest among us have a strangle hold on Congress while the poor and middle class (the real middle class and not those in the $400,000 and up income per year bracket) have no champion whispering in the ears of our legislators.

Utter obscene profits are routinely reported by oil giants who pay essentially no taxes and even get subsidies from our wallets.

A pollution filled gas wasting so called sport known as Nascar gets a tax break.  Just how is this essential waste of tax payer dollars justified when so many are unemployed?

Congress raised the estate tax threshold to $5 million and indexed it to the cost of living so the wealthy not only get to hide more money but have the promise of even higher stashes as time goes by!  (Just like your salaries, right?)

Can this trend be changed?

Of course it can.

Will it be changed?

Absolutely not, or at the very least doubtful.  And even if it is it won’t happen in our lifetime.

At least not the way things are going now!

Our tax laws are as clear as the “No Parking” signs that clutter Manhattan.  You know the ones that are placed on poles every few feet to clarify the rules?

From top to bottom they may read:

No Parking: M – W – F – 8 am – 11 am

No Parking: T – Th – Sat – 11 am – 1 pm

No Parking Between Signs

No Parking: Mon – Fri – 2 pm – 5 pm

And finally at the very bottom:

No Standing Anytime!

Clearly you need a legal degree or a limo driver to live ‘ticket free’ in the Big Apple.

And just as clearly you need an accountant to even try to get through our tax laws.

What you don’t need is a PhD to understand that all the laws are made and enacted to help the wealthy remain so and to keep the rest of us working well past normal retirement age so they have a pool from which to select the most appropriate laborer.

But the most glaring fact in every bit of legislation handed down by Congress and signed by presidents since Ronald Reagan (I’ll pause to give my conservative readers a chance to genuflect) is that they are singularly not affected.

Your company just canceled their pension plan (as mine did two days before I would have been vested – talk about scum of the earth!) well Congress has no worries there!

Your company implemented their yearly increase in your health insurance premiums?  No worries for Congress there!

Your children are thrown off coverage even though the economy has not allowed them to find a job?

Congressional offspring have no idea about that hardship either!

I could go on and on but why bother?  The people who must make the changes we need are the ones religiously protecting the status quo.

The bottom line is if you are not part of the game you have no right to decide its rules. And anyone who wonders why the approval rate for that body of hypocrites is at an all time low need look no further than that!

The More You Have The Less You Are!

In general it has been my observation that people with less give more of themselves to those in need than those who are well off.
Maybe they are sheltered from the reality of the day to day lives of billions of people who merely wish to live and enjoy their time upon this Earth without worrying that the next guy will steal everything they own.
The average person wants a leader to at least understand how much a quart of milk costs and how the rising cost of gasoline affects their lives.  The average mother or father wants their leaders to understand how important a good education for their children is and that they should not try to hinder that in any way.
And for the most part, without using the terrible word socialism, the average family wants to know that should they need help from their government it will be there for them and not vilify them for needing assistance!
But for some reason the more people make or have or, for that matter steal and hide, the less likely they are to give to the needy.  And that goes for individuals as well as government.
The mentality of these cretins starts to lean toward that of a miserly greedy selfish being who can think of only one thing, amassing a larger fortune and keeping it hidden from the tax man.
But don't think this phenomenon is just an American trait, although we seem to have some who have perfected it and even used it to get themselves in position to be elected President.
No, this is a human, or as some may argue a sub-human trait that transcends physical borders.
This week a tiny article surfaced that did not draw much attention in the States as it did not concern the upcoming election or a useless 'Page Six' celebrity.

What's a few million among friends?

The article is about the former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. 
This 76 year old billionaire - let me repeat that in a slightly different order of words - HE'S A BILLIONAIRE AND HE IS SEVENTY SIX YEARS OLD - was convicted and sentenced to 4 years in jail for the heinous yet rampant crime of TAX FRAUD!
One might ask which came first, the obscene fortune or the scheme to make it by cheating on his taxes.
I posit that it has to be a hybrid of the two but no one can argue that the two do not go hand in hand.
In America we have all kinds of proposals to help our economy and many include an arbitrary income of $250,000 above which taxes should be raised while leaving those with less alone to muddle through their daily lives unscathed.
In that spirit I ask what is the level of income, or theft, or hidden assets, above which one turns to a life of crime.
For surely tax evasion is a crime.
But that crime is multiplied ten fold when the criminal is a career politician and especially when that career criminal politician is running for President on a platform that hinges on his success in business!
This type of ploy is worthy of the highest Chutzpah award!
For those not familiar with the term it emanates from the case of the young man brought to court to face the charge of killing his parents.  He pleads with the judge, "Have mercy your honor, I'm an orphan!"
The wealthiest Americans are using a small, to them, portion of their wealth to keep or place the most friendly, wink wink say no more politicians into office.
These soon to be bought and paid for political puppets will continue to allow the wealthy owners of government free rein as they seek out more and more lucrative tax shelters and tax havens and tax friendly countries in which they can park their money far from the reach of the IRS.

The Bain Brain will prove a to be a drain
on society and the bane of every
American's existence!

One need only look at the "legal" way Mr. Willard Mitt Romney has amassed a fortune most humans can only dream of and yet pay a lower tax rate than the writer of this blog or 98% of America!
And the fact that he is close in the polls and could even win the Presidency without once setting forth an agenda for our future but constantly spewing lies about his past is enough to make any normal human sick.
When Italy has finally said enough and is throwing their long time criminal in jail please don't tell me that America is about to hand theirs the keys to the kingdom!!!

Leeches, Health Care & the Tax Code

The fight over President Obama’s health care overhaul, the so called Affordable Care Act (ACA) has reignited the wide divide between current political ideologies in America. That divide was always just beneath the surface but has become painfully evident since we had the audacity to send an African American to the White House.

But analyzing the law and its underlying intent merely through the eyes of politicians and special interest groups on either side of the aisle is disingenuous to all interested parties and especially those of us in need of affordable health care.

One side may offer silly arguments about family values and religious freedom, while the other points to fairness and equal justice for all but neither side can win an argument and stand up to 100% scrutiny.

The religious freedom people, with the most vocal being Christians, say they do not want this form of health care because it goes against their religious training and heritage.  But they lose as soon as someone gives them the old WWJD argument as in what would Jesus do?  Clearly their savior was for healing the sick regardless of their ability to pay.  And what would he think of the greedy insurance companies etc. but enough of that for now.

And as for the 'equal justice for all' camp I agree but still say that many people, by their own actions or lack thereof are not deserving of constant coddling.  You must at least attempt to take an interest in your own well being to earn our care and respect in return.

But I digress and will not argue those points here because no matter what is debated in the halls of government everything always boils down to costs and who will be paying.

Pay Your Fair Share!
Unless You're Extremely Wealthy!

The wealthiest of the country feel they should never have to pay for anything, including taxes on the money they make or inherit. They do not wish to part with a penny if it will not come back as two cents for themselves or their family. Sadly the poor, even if employed, generally do not have two pennies to rub together and can not afford to pay for services they so desperately need.

As with all social services in civilized countries taxes pay for the needs of the many. And taxes are levied on all citizens with varying degrees of tax rates depending on their income.

In America we have inverted the fair tax code and it seems to be an impossibility to come up with a system that understands two plus two equals four!

Warren Buffet attempted to make it simple by telling the country it is unfair that his tax rate is lower than that of his secretary. Naturally Mr. Buffet could rectify that by adding a few zeros to the end of her paycheck but that is between those two and not up for discussion.

Mr. Buffet is not alone in his legal gaming of the system even though he decries its inherent unfairness.

One need only look at the absurdly low tax rate Presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney is asked to pay and with which he all too gladly complies.

Obviously this incredibly wealthy man does not wish to see the tax code changed and will most likely continue to do everything in his power toward that end.

God Save the Queen
And The Caymans

He and his idle friends who add nothing to society but sound-bites and pink slips will do this while laughing all the way to the bailed out banks of America and the tax haven ones of the Cayman Islands and beyond.

The tax code may have started out as a great idea with fairness toward all in the beginning but it has been changed, altered, rewritten, reinterpreted and cut to pieces so often through the years that there are more loopholes in it than actual tax rates and the current incarnation has made the nation loopy!

Mr. Romney’s “carried interest income” which earned him millions over the years is not levied as regular income in the tax code but rather at the lowest allowable rate of 15%.

A family of 4 could comfortably live on that income for decades.

Cheesy way to hide income!

Mr. Romney also conveniently forgot to disclose that aside from his hidden Cayman Island bank accounts he earned quite a handsome sum of loot from his Swiss Bank accounts!

I am using Willard as an example but he is by no means the only one, nor is he the worst offender when it comes to screwing America and Americans out of much needed tax revenue.

Bane of our Existence

Mr. Romney is but an example of how the wealthiest of the country plan to stay in that elite club every day of their lives.

I sometimes wonder if everything they do or say is done with an eye toward keeping or making more money.

“Sir, would you like to wear the red or the blue tie today?”

“Which one will get me more money, Jeeves?”

So if we still wish to help Americans in need of some form of affordable health care and, assuming we will not be able to pry any more pennies from the cold brain-dead hands of the wealthy by way of the skewed tax code, then we must look toward streamlining health care costs.

The wealthy turn the argument in that direction every chance they get using phrases such as “Fee for Service!” (They also say Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid every chance they get but that makes even less sense so we’ll let that go for now.)

These greedy anti-social beings boldly claim that as long as you allow doctors and hospitals to charge fees for every service, test or procedure they perform health care expenses will needlessly rise through the roof.
They naturally hide the fact that they themselves demand payment for every service or rather disservice they perform each and every day!

They further posit that insurance companies are the guardians of our nation’s money constantly pushing back and fighting the evil hoards of medical mercenaries in their pursuit of endless wealth.

Saying the above with straight faces is quite impressive not to mention totally hypocritical since many of them are directors on the boards of those faceless insurance behemoths.

In the end however there may be a glimmer of truth as some doctors can be unscrupulous.  After all they are human and as such err.

But I hazard to say there are far more bean counting insurance accountants with no medical training or knowledge doing the evil than doctors since their salaries and future employment depend on profit.

And in the end it is we the public who pay for this back and forth game of he said she said which inevitably kicks the can down the road on solutions.

Hey SCOTUS
Are Leeches People too?

Many years ago the medical industry used leeches to bleed the sick. The idea was to rid the body of bad blood by using those low cost creatures.

Today’s leeches are the insurance companies who survive by sucking out the life blood of our economy.

The difference is the current parasitic creatures are killing more people than they are saving and getting wealthy along the way.

For years insurance companies have been raising their rates, charging more and more for less and less and using their obscene profits to fund vacations, private jets, and bonuses. But more importantly a significant amount of that ill-gotten cash has found its way into and through the hands of lobbyists and into Congress in order to keep the status quo!

Those of us who have insurance payments deducted from our salaries by our employers pay on average $10,000 per year for healthcare insurance.  But the cost is actually double that because insurance is partly covered by our employer.

If they had to pay less to the leeches we might actually be able to negotiate raises. (Pie in the sky perhaps but worth noting.)

Pray for Health?

We pay all this money for the pleasure of being told by those insurance carriers that much of what we need is not covered and that that which is covered comes with a $50 ‘co-pay,’ a $100 ‘co-insurance,’ a $500 ‘deductible,’ and a cap of $1,500 for any particular occurrence.

I Guess So!!!

And in some States you may also be forced to listen to lectures  in an attempt to shame you out of whatever it is you need to have done!

These insurance industry made-up words could add up to as much as $30,000 per year for a normal HEALTHY family of four.

But for arguments sake let's say it's only 10% of your income.

SO the question we should all be asking ourselves is this:

If I have to pay 10% of my income for good health care and a chance at longer a life to whom would I prefer giving that money?

A. An insurance broker trained in the fine art of bean counting and ledger-keeping whose main job is to make more money for the corporation who hired him

OR

You'd be in good hands
WITHOUT Insurance Companies!

B. A staff of board certified medical professionals and personnel trained in the art of keeping humans alive and healthy?

It is quite apparent that we need regulations but shouldn't we rid ourselves of the leech mentality from the dark ages?

Can we not do without the useless insurance industry entirely and instead regulate and fine-tune the medical industry.

In the long run our tax dollars would go further and the economy as well as ‘we the people’ would all be healthier.

It's Great to be in the USCA

There is a sinister movement afoot in America and it is surely on a course to change the way we live for years to come.
The movement is insidious.
It is attacking us on many different fronts.
And while each individual attack is brought up in the news or on the web nobody seems to be putting two and two together.
Nobody is talking about the cohesive factor involved in this well planned war on the American Dream and our very way of life.  
But it is not a very well kept secret nor are the people or groups waging the war even trying to keep it thus.
I am talking about the very real war on the Middle Class and all people not considered wealthy.
The evidence is simple and the examples are abundant.
From Governor Scott Walker and his band of puppets doing the bidding of the billionaire Koch brothers by stealing away the long fought for rights of the individual to the silly idiot Governor of Maine, LePage removing a mural from government property because it had the audacity to celebrate a worker's movement and decry child labor.  (Maine voters better turn a NEW page and soon or they will find themselves in big trouble.)
Justice Thomas of the once revered and fair Supreme Court is a staunch supporter of his old company Monsanto in its fight against individual farmers and will fight for anything spouse Ginny espouses.  (Virginia is of course a staunch tea bagger.)
Fellow co-conspirator Justice Scalia is sure to vote in favor of Wal*Mart in their defense against a class action lawsuit brought by women who have been discriminated against by that giant corporation - no matter what the evidence says!  He has already hinted as much in previously released statements.
And many more chinks in the armor (I mean that in non-racial terms) of the American fabric may be found without hard investigative digging.  Just Google 'Individual rights and Ohio' or 'Assault on the EPA' if you like.
In fact a simple extrapolation of these events will lead us to a future eerily reminiscent of a fascist state where any gathering of like minded individuals discussing the shortcomings of the government will be found guilty of sedition!
It sounds a bit far fetched if not totally paranoid but the movement is definitely in that direction.
And as with any political movement it runs on funds.
So which side of this conflict would be able to last the longest?
Which group can afford to keep the fight going until they attain their goal and grab the brass ring?
As silly as it sounds the future could hold a time when a family of five or more sitting around the dinner table will be too frightened to discuss politics lest they be imprisoned.
"Step away from the meatloaf, little Bobby and place your hands on the table where I can see them!  You have the right to remain..."
Of course the above is all the alarmist rantings of a delusional conspiracy theorist, right?
I mean the government is not out to get you.
They will not infringe on any of your rights as long as you continue to file your taxes every April.
Oh, and speaking of taxes and that whole 'no taxation without representation' thing, where does that leave the likes of GE and Exxon?  I wonder what they are doing with all that cash they don't pay to the IRS?
The architects of this movement have worked long and hard.  They have planned their attack for a quite some time, tweaking and reworking but always with an eye toward the goal.  And finally they are poised to reap the rewards of their patience.
Every American voter must keep this in mind when he or she pulls the curtain closed on November 6th, 2012 or be prepared to bow down to the United States of Corporate America and avow their support for the USCA!

Song of the IRS

Kiss your funds goodbye.
Tomorrow is the deadline.
Born without a silver spoon?
So the fun is done
And so everyone
Will be poorer soon.
.
Gone, all your money's gone
You must carry on
Cause truly no one else cares  

Kiss your funds goodbye
The cash was yours to borrow
You used what you had to use
You were blessed
But the rest
Is not yours to lose

Send it all in now
Watch it add up - wow!
You're just our cash cow
Kiss your funds goodbye.


With sincere thanks from your friends at the Infernal Revenue Service

Erev Tax Day Thoughts

Somewhere in America the following conversation may be taking place between a young child (C) and a Rabbi (R.)

C - Rabbi, why is my dad crying today?

R - Well this is a hard thing to explain but most likely it is because today is Erev Filing day.

C - Erev Filing Day?  I've never heard of that holiday Rabbi.  Does that have something to do with a department store?

R - A department store?  What are you talking about child?

C - Filings basement?

R - Oh, no my child.  There are no bargains associated with this holiday.  In fact on this day we all lose a little money and get very little in return.

C - Does this holiday come often?

R - Often enough my child, often enough.  Once a year, every April.

C - Does it also last a week like the other April holiday?

R - No, it lasts only one day but we feel its effect for a much longer time.

C - Oh, I understand.  Like I feel after eating matzo for a week.

R - That is a wise analogy.  After this day we cannot go and do too much for a while.

C - But I saw my friend's dad also very sad today and he is not Jewish. Is this a holiday for all religions?

R - For the most part yes.  Only a few people do not feel the pain of this day.

C - So it a sad holiday Rabbi.

R - Yes, to most people it is a very sad day.

C - Are you hurt by this day, Rabbi?
R - Me, not so much.


C - So what exactly is it?  Why is today different from all other days?

R - Well, on all other days we eat as much as we like and spend to our hearts' desire, but on this day we must watch what eat and how much we spend.  Usually we live our lives free of unforeseen burdens, but on this day we must be ready to send our hard earned money to nameless faceless offices across America in order to pay the salaries of men and women who don't need the money.

C - But if they don't need the money then why do we send it?

R - It is the law.


C - But who made this law, God?
R - Quite the opposite my child.  The people to whom we send the money made the law.


C - That does not seem fair, Rabbi.  How can we justify this?
R - Think of it as a sort of Tzedakah, a charity.

C - But isn't charity a good thing Rabbi?

R - Yes it is.  But it should come from the desire to give to others, not from the demand of them.  But we do what we must to survive.

C - So why are you not crying today, Rabbi?

R - Luckily in America we have something called separation of Church and State.  The religious community doesn't bother the government and they in turn don't force us to send them Tzedakah.

C - But you seem a bit sad today also.  Why does this day bother you Rabbi?
R - I am sad because my congregation is sad.  People of the cloth, Rabbis and Priests etc. are not included in this holiday but our congregations are hurt.

C - Hmmm. I just figured out what I want to be when I grow up, Rabbi.

R - We will welcome you into our community my child.

C - What?  Oh no Rabbi, I'm going to go work for the government and get all the people of the country to send me the Tzedakah!  Then I can have all that money to play with and not have to do anything to show for it either.  Thank you for explaining it to me Rabbi.

R - Clever child.

Of course the conversation was fictitious but judging from all the phony religious groups and self proclaimed Holy leaders out there I'm not so sure something like it doesn't take place quite often.

Taxes are a necessary evil in a Democracy but that doesn't mean they have to be totally evil.  I am not a member of the idiotic "Tea Party" movement that was created by the Republican leaning far right but I do believe we have a problem.  There is room for and a need for an intelligent reform of our tax system.

When Warren Buffet told us that his secretary paid more in taxes percentage-wise than he did it was clear the scales are tipped in the wrong direction.  The old theory that taking one dollar from three hundred million people is easier to hide then taking the full amount from one person is ridiculous.

We should all pay our fair share and not be able to 'loophole' our way out of a penny merely because we are rich to begin with!  When the wealthy have attorneys on retainer who get paid millions of dollars to find ways to save fifty thousand dollars in taxes something is wrong.  The wealthier among us feel it is their right to keep more of their money than the rest of us.

I am not smart enough to figure out an entire new system but I can tell you that if our geniuses in DC don't do something about it we are headed for a greater problem then we have ever faced in America.  The monetary gap between the wealthy and the poor is growing larger every day.  The middle class is being crowded out of existence and the wealthy are paying their lobbyists to keep the trend going.

How long before the above conversation forces everyone into the only two professions guaranteed to make money and have a carefree life - the Church and the Federal Government?

A flat tax or an income tax only system might be a better solution to the current morass that is our tax code.  And when and if this is proposed Congress must tell the accounting lobby and the legal lobby and the church lobby and all the rest of the lobbies to STFU and deal with it.

Congress and religious leaders have had a free ride for far too long.
Tell these pretenders E I E I O - Enough Is Enough - It's OVER.