It Really Is That Simple

by Greg Rosendahl

         America is no longer a society of 'haves' and 'have-nots’, it is now a society of producers and takers.  The latter far out number the former, and as long as that is the case no congress or president can stop the economic disaster that is coming (or already here).  At some point, those that produce will simply quit doing so. Those that take will NOT stop doing so - until they are forced to.  

      Yesterday (April 14) was tax freedom day, the day that the average taxpayer is no longer working to fund the federal government.  As my good friend, Gar Bailey pointed out to me; “that is only for federal income taxes and does not include the endless state and local taxes and fees that are paid every day.  Freedom day for all taxes would be well into August.”  Eight months of working to fund government!! That is 3/4 of your working life devoted to funding what has primarily become a clearing house for wealth redistribution and entitlement.

     What will happen when producers quit producing?  Are the moochers and looters of this great nation going to storm Washington and demand that the politicians force others to produce for them?  

     If you keep smacking a dog with a rolled up newspaper, he will eventually quit doing whatever it was he was doing.  If you keep taxing the people that really make this country work; those people that create jobs, write paychecks, invest in development, donate to charity, and pay the majority of taxes - they will simply quit. It is simple economics combined with the love of free will that drives people to produce, and it is the intrusion into the exact same thing that will make them stop.

        Your income is your property.  You have exchanged time out of your very life to acquire it, making it the most basic form of personal property you can have.  You would not allow someone to steal your furniture or your car; how is your income any different?  The taxation of income is public-sanctioned theft.  It really is that simple.

by Greg Miller

       It's been some time since anything has been written on these pages. The author has become busy and the writing bug just hasn't been biting. I felt that it was important to start writing again, not because of any profound thoughts or ideas and not because anyone was actually reading what I wrote but rather, because It's therapy for me. That's right this is just an exercise in selfishness.

     The third year of Barrack Hussein Obama's term as President of the United States of America is well under way and last November the citizens of this great land elected a Republican majority to the House of Representatives.  The GOP came close to taking the majority in the Senate but fell a few seats short. The fascinating thing about the election actually happened at the state level. The "Democrats" lost big in legislatures around the country as well as quite a few governorships. The point there is that, in those states, Republicans will be responsible for redistricting.

     The "Democrat" majority in Congress left town last year without passing a budget and leaving that task for the present Congress to get it done so, we just had a budget battle that actually turned out to be nothing more than a political pillow fight. No real cuts in the spending that is causing the debt that we are drowning in. 

       Today the House of Representatives passed their 2012 budget. There are real cuts and it is basically the Ryan plan. $6 Trillion in cuts over the next decade and there is real reform of entitlement programs. Now the ball is in the Senate's court, let's see if those "Democrats" are going to get serious about cuts. I believe some are and will get busy. After all there are more than twenty who are up for re election.

     A brief snapshot of America today: 

• Gasoline prices are high, averaging around $4 a gallon.
• Unemployment is above 9% and has been for well over a year.
• Gold hits record price three days in a row.
• Inflation is high.
• The national debt is pushing $15 trillion.
• Several states are fast approaching the debt tipping point.
• Suicide rate is up.
• More people on food stamps than in any other time in our history.
• A general sense and mood that things aren't going to get better.
• Deep divisions in the population.

Greg