AgainstTheWind

Taxed

When I was in Tulsa, I became aware that my brother, Dana is or was in the midst of fighting property tax valuations. When I saw the article in the WSJ on property tax revolt I thought of him.

...at the very time that states and cities are begging for money from Washington to help distressed homeowners pay their mortgages, property tax hikes could push hundreds of thousands of homeowners under water.

At least property taxes are local. After the fun fulminations of April 15, which are sinking into the back ground, I did want to send the link to Blogodidact's piece, "mugged by a Statist." So as I went back to read it, the first link in it happens to be to a tract I'm reading this evening on Income Tax, the Root of all Evil. It's a 90 page pdf (or adobe reader) file, and I've only gotten through p. 22. The gist of the thing is that

...The Constitution, then, kept the federal government off balance and weak. And a weak government is the corollary of a strong people.

The Sixteenth Amendment changed all that. In the first place, by enabling the federal government to put its hands into the pockets and pay envelopes of the people, it drew their allegiance away from their local governments. It made them citizens of the United States rather than of their respective states. Theft loyalty followed theft money, which was now taken from them not by their local representatives, over whom they had some control, but by the representatives of the other forty-seven states. They became subject to the will of the central government, and their state of subjection was emphasized by every increase in the income-tax levies.

The state governments likewise lost more and more of their autonomy. Not only was their source of revenue being dried up by federal preemption, so that they had less and less for the social services a government should provide, but they were compelled in their extremity to apply to the central authorities for help. In so doing they necessarily gave up some of their independence.

Why do we accept this hand in our pockets? It never backs off and says, thanks, have enough this year, so we'll collect less. In my work as a teacher I was paid by local taxes, Robert, my brother in Civil Service is paid in your income taxes. And he's spending great sums of that tax money letting government contracts. Mother is living off her retirement income from Dow Chemical as well as Social Security and personal savings. So of my four immediate relatives, one is creating wealth, producting product. He's supporting the rest of us! Thanks Dana. Now for the part of my children, they are much less government dependent.

BUT... the parents of my grandchildren are afraid to marry because they'd have to give up the State sponsored health insurance for the kids. And frankly, I'd like to see the costs of bringing little Cameron Oliver to be the pesty, testy two year old he is. He's most likely a million dollar baby.

We've sold off a great deal of our sense of independence and responsibility in these interactions.

I've finally gotten to pictures from February. Only three months behind. This is the balcony of Marianne's new apartment on moving in day. She's getting the apartment really set up nicely. But the balcony is still not used to best advantage.

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