Taxed Enough Already

April 15th, 2009 was a historical day. The numbers are not in yet, but I suspect that the Tea Party protests drew the largest conservative-based crowd in history. Conservative estimates put attendance at 250,000 people at over 800 rallies nationwide. Not quite the "million man march" (that really wasn't a million men) put on by Luis Farakhan a few years ago, but WOW!

I attended the protest at Jones Plaza in downtown Houston. Early estimates say there were about 4,000 freedom-loving, hard working Americans there. There were also "satellite protests" in the suburbs. All in all, I would guess that 6-7,000 people are fed up enough to take time out of their busy day to protest, in the Houston area alone. What were we protesting? Don't expect to get a clear answer from the main-stream media. Still hopelessly in love with Obama and the purveyors of his radical adgenda, they got it all wrong. Sad, but not surprising. Keith Olberman had some choice words (as usual-the man is a joke) on what he called "teabagging". I won't define it here, but feel free to look it up. The term is pretty disgusting in itself, but that wasn't enough for 'ole Keith. About 15 minutes into his ridiculous rant, I turned him off. He was waaaaay too turned on about the prospect of "teabagging", and made over 15 comments filled with innuendo and sexual connotations. I concluded (not for the first time) that this man is a total putz! Not surprising, PMS-NBC allowed this lunatic rant. Whatever. I pay no attention to complete idiots that refuse to face reallity.

Here's my take on the deal. I have never been to a protest of any kind, but I have seen several on TV. The one I attended yesterday didn't look like a protest to me. Nobody was burning flags. I didn't see one flag of any nationality other than the American flag. Nobody shouted "Obama is the devil" or "Kill Obama". I have never seen ANY protest started with the Pledge of Allegiance (led by 4th-graders) and a prayer. The protesters were polite, respectful and peaceful. There were several messages that were easy to understand. Try to get that from your typical "save the earth" or "civil rights" protest.

The message was: Stop spending us into oblivion. Lower taxes. No more bailouts. Term limits. Read and follow the Constitution. Stop trashing America. The message was simple, concise and non-violent.

A lot of you may be asking, "What's the use?": "What good does all of this do?": Congress and The President don't care.", etc. That's just not true. Try as they may, they cannot ignore us. As a Japanese commander said after the bombing of Pearl Harbor: "I fear we have awaken a sleeping giant." Fits the situation perfectly. Besides, this general lack of interest in policy is exactly what got us into the mess we are in. Our government is supposed to be "by the people, for the people". If you are not telling your government how to represent you, what do you expect? Squeeky wheels get greased.

I don't mean to complain, but bear with me a bit. I have a hard time believing that only 6,000 citizens out of over 4 million are fed up right now. I heard "I don't think I can make it" or "I've got something else going": sometimes I just heard crickets chirping. No problem, I understand. Wednesday, April 15th in downtown Houston can be pretty difficult to make. Parking is a bugger-bear, and most people fed up right now are actually working to pay their bills rather than waiting around for a hand-out. No harm, no foul. The next one is Saturday, July 4th. Start planning to attend now. This is important.

I would like to talk about taxes a little if I could. Try this exercise: Take a look at your paycheck next week. Not your take-home, but look closely. Tabulate the amount of money located in the "FICA", "Social Security" and "Medicare" columns. Then, multiply this by 52. Depending on your income, this could be a pretty hefty amount. Now, I want you to imagine a beautiful spring day in April. After hours of calculations, and / or possibly hundreds of dollars in accounting fees, imagine breaking out the old check book and writing a check made payable to the IRS for the ENTIRE AMOUNT. We are not done yet. I want you to imagine the final destination of that money. Picture if you will, the "green jobs" that this will fund. Think of all the wellfare recipients that will be so grateful for your hard-earned money. Think AIG: Think of all the members of the UAW that can continue to work at a company under whose leadership would not normally survive the free market that our system is based on. Worse yet, think about the raise that Pelosi, Reid and 533 other members of your Congress just gave themselves. Then I want you to remember all those years of hard work. Think about your Social Security contributions (yes, go ahead and read that stupid "account balance" they send you every year). I know it's a stretch, but imagine turning 73 (or whatever the retirement age will be when we get there) and finally becoming elligible to start getting your own money back. Oops! It's not there. What do "they" do then? Sorry Mr. Smith, but you are only elligible for $250 per month for the next 40 years. I don't know about you, but this gets my blood boiling.

What's the solution? I SAY THE FAIR TAX! Please do some research on it. Let your voice be heard. In a nutshell:

1. 23% national sales tax to replace FICA, Social Security and Medicare (after 2 to 3 years this would probably be reduced to about 17%).
2. No more withholding - NONE. Go back to my suggestion above. Can you imagine not
having to write that check to the IRS? What would you do if you had 25-35% of
your income IN YOUR HANDS?
3. People below the "poverty level" still won't pay taxes.
4. No more 60,000 page tax code.
5. Tax imposed on new goods only. No "re-sales" tax when re-selling cars, houses,
etc.
6. Taxed on what you spend, not what you make. This includes drug-dealers, cash-
businesses, illegal immigrants. Everyone.
7. No more IRS. It is none of their business what we make, anyway.

Those are just a few benefits of a national sales tax, or "Fair Tax". There are many more benefits: check them out at http://www.fairtax.org/

Some people suggest a flat tax, where there are no deductions, just a simple flat rate for different levels of income. This is still progressive, punishes success, promotes class warfare and lets a government entity snoop into your personal affairs way more than should be allowed.

Here's the bottom line: Hard-working, freedom-loving Americans are sick and tired of footing the bill for corruption, special interest groups and total losers that have become dependant on government support. The Tea Parties told a little bit of the story, but not the whole story. If you haven't already, get involved. Tell your elected officials that they will be out of work if they do not represent you the way you want to be represented. If they fail, vote them out. Eventually, we will have a congressional cleansing, and this great country can go back to, well, being great.

I'm TEA'd off. How about you?

UPDATE: Over 8,500 people signed in at the Houston Tea Party. Many, many more weren't allowed to enter, or refused to sign up. New estimate - over 10,000 in attendance, not counting the satellite protests. PHENOMENAL!

Wake Me When It's Over

Let's see if I've got this right:

1. The President fires the CEO of GM (referred to from here on out as "Government Motors"), but promises the government will honor all warranties.

2. The President, 2 teleprompters, and an entourage of 500 go overseas to the G-20 summit.

3. Meeting with the QUEEN OF ENGLAND, Michelle-My-Belle Obama not only refuses to curtsy, but actually puts her arm around the queen???

4. This (see number 2 above) occurs shortly before giving the queen an extra-special gift (an I-Pod).

5. Meanwhile, The Big O almost bumps his head on the floor bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia (not reciprocated, I might add).

6. Obama spends most of his time blaming the economic woes of the world on United States greed, much in the same manner Secretary Clinton blames the U.S. for Mexico's civil war (if only we would quit sending them guns and buying their drugs).

7. Obama commits to $250 billion in funds (out of $1.1 trillion) to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

8. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (the cesspool known as Washington D.C.), both the House and the Senate pass different versions of a $3.6 trillion budget.

9. Oh, I forgot to mention, the "moderate Taliban" has made it clear that they want no part of peaceful talks with the U.S. (there's a shocker). "Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, you infidels."

10. Last, but not least, North Korea is about to test-launch a potential ICBM, thumbing their nose at the international community and all of the "dire warnings" from our current administration (another shocker).

Please don't tell me what I am missing. This is all my heart and mind can take at the moment. Two images come to mind:

1. Remember in The Wizard of Oz when Toto pulled the curtain back and revealed the little guy pulling levers and pushing buttons? This bears an uncanny resemblance to the Obama administration.

2. I love the part at the end where Dorothy learns that all she has to do is click her heels 3 times and keep repeating "there's no place like home, there's no place like home".

O.K., I've seen the man behind the curtain, and he is no wizard (wizard of lies, maybe). I've also tried the heel-clicking (I say "there's no place like America, there's no place like America". Apparently I bought my slippers from the same snake-oil salesman the Jack purchased the magic beans from, because it's not working!

I see the leaders of the world walking behind Obama snickering because someone slapped a sign on his back (maybe the King of Saudi Arabia) the reads "kick me, I am gay". The problem is, even Obama's buddies won't tell him the sign is there - it's just too damn funny. And there is North Korea, getting ready to kick (along with Iran, Russia and others).

Up until just a couple of months ago, I would have said "call your elected officials, they work for us: they have to listen", but now I'm not so sure. Rome is burning, and they are dancing around, fiddling away. In fact, I believe they are dousing the fire with gas. At least they are going on a two week vacation (at our expense), limiting the damage they can do. Every cloud has a silver lining.

I have come to the conclusion that I must be dreaming. I am watching the Office of The Teleprompter of The United States and his radical, left-wing counterparts in Congress run the Constitution through the paper shredder, presumably to make room for all of the new money printing that needs to be done. "I've still got checks left, I can't be out of money". Scary. "Constitution, we don't need no stinking Constitution!" That's just an old, outdated document written for a different time and place. Heck, Al Gore hadn't even invented the Internet when that old rag was written.

What to do? You got me on that one. I am going to a tea party on April 15Th, but not really sure how much good it will do. I am not sure how much good anything will do at this point. Writing these posts helps a little. I can laugh to keep from crying.

Mostly, I feel sorry for our troops. They are putting their lives on the line everyday, for what? So Dick Durbin and John Kerry can accuse them of killing innocent civilians in cold blood? These and other politicians like them are the lowest form of human life in the political world.

Meanwhile, I will try not to snore too loud, so as not to wake the rest of you. I will continue the heel-clicking exersise, and yes, I will continue to contact these goof-balls in Congress.

There's no place like America, there's no place like America.