A member recently commented in one of the other forums in this index, that she wished that more people would post remarks and thoughts of their own origin. As opposed to simply cutting and pasting articles and then commenting on them.

While considering that over the past several days, I discovered this particular forum, which seemed to fit the bill for just such comments to be made. Therefore, I have chosen to pen a few thoughts on something that is near and dear to most of us.

Taxes.

As we are in the midst of a presidential election cycle, we have all experienced the various speeches and positions of all the candidates and on a variety of issues that concern us all. But taxation seems to be an issue, where the clarity of what each position represents, seems to split and factionalize every American involved in the political discussion.

We have three candidates currently in the running. With John McCain being chosen to carry the banner of the GOP and the democrats still bickering over who will represent them. But let's try to keep this simple and just look at what each has had to say as it concerns taxes.

Let's look at John McCain first. McCain is campaigning now, on the position that he will seek to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent, if he is elected president. Yet John McCain, is also a senator who voted against President Bush's tax cuts twice. John McCain asserts that he was not against the tax cuts, as much as he was against them, without the guarantee of spending reductions in the budget.

On the surface, that may seem to be a fair representation and one put forth from a position of honest concern for the country. But what is overlooked IMHO, is that McCain and his fellow senators and representatives in the house, are the one's most responsible for the tripling of the national deficit and the heaping piles of partisan budgetary pork on both sides of the isle.

If John McCain were truly committed to balancing the budget or reductions in the budget, he would have demonstrated his commitment and his efforts, by his record in the senate. And frankly, I don't see it. What I do see, is John McCain's repeated sentiment that he is a federalist. Which by definition, is one who seeks and approves of a more centralized government. Yep John McCain represents himself as a true conservative, but IMHO, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He only represents a different angle of the others representing their positions for the presidency this year.

As it concerns either of the two democratic candidates, much of there stated policies and intentions, fall along parallel lines of more taxation and more spending on social programs. Albeit, that they have each represented their perceptions of lost American treasure, due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And you can bet that each of them sees the opportunity to rescue the billions spent, defending this country and on our military and then redirect it to their pet constituencies supposed social reforms. For those that remember, that is precisely what Bill Clinton did for eight years, while he supposedly balanced the national budget. But creative book keeping and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and reducing the obvious outlay spent on social programs by gutting the military, is at the least a disingenuous representation of the facts and the history.

Where the current two democrats have the greatest disparity of position IMO, is when you compare their supposed affordable health care programs and their individual views when it comes to taxing Americans more, to help pay for such things as affordable health care and aid to Africa.

So in a nutshell, that is a brief synopsis of what I see, when I look at all three of them.

We as a nation have been told for the last four years now, that Americans are not paying their fair share of taxes and that we cannot continue to fund our lavish social spending projects, unless and until we all agree to bite the bullet and accept the need for more taxation. What the democrats know, but refuse to acknowledge, is that "we all" is a code word for those Americans who actually work and pay taxes and those who own and operate the millions of small businesses, where the bulk of taxation that they are interested in really exists. They will tell you and they would like for you to believe, that they only want to tax the richest Americans and corporations. They will tell you that the richest Americans are the cause of all failures of the working class and the poor. And they would like you to believe, that their is nothing wrong with taxing the rich. Regardless of whether the reality already proves that the richest Americans are already paying 90% of the income taxes collected in this country every year.

quote:

The latest data show that a big portion of the federal income tax burden is shoul­dered by a small group of the very richest Americans. The wealthiest 1 percent of the population earn 19 per­cent of the income but pay 37 percent of the income tax. The top 10 percent pay 68 percent of the tab. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent—those below the median income level—now earn 13 percent of the income but pay just 3 percent of the taxes. These are proportions of the income tax alone and don’t include payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.

We are told that there is no way that either cutting taxes or keeping taxes where they are, could possibly benefit anyone other than the rich. They assure us that taxation of the middle class and the working class will be negligible and besides, the poor and the disadvantaged will benefit. If only we would commit more of our "shared American treasure," equitably.

With that said, much has been said of late, of the appeasement mentality of certain liberal democrats, both past and present. With Senator Obama currently wearing the mantle of appeasement, due to his avowed desire to negotiate with our enemies on equal diplomatic footing.

But the other appeasers in our midst remain under the radar. Specifically the republican and supposed conservative appeasers. Certainly, they are by and large behind and in support of keeping America's military strong, and continuing to take the fight to the sworn enemies of this nation. But their appeasement is equally as sinister IMO. Republican appeasement to the mentality that they have to go along to get along with democrats, has never served to do anything less, than to represent two parties with supposedly differing platforms.

When IMO, that is the farthest from the truth, when you look at the record. George H. W. Bush was an appeaser. "Read my lips! No new taxes!" was the battle cry of 1988. Yet he folded tent and abandoned that promise in the first year of his administration and raised taxes to appease the democrats and republicans in congress. He and others may believe that Ross Perot split the vote and caused him to lose reelection, but the reality of those that lived it and voted, knows better.

Bill Clinton beat him in 1992 and immediately set about to use the so called peace dividend and to lead America into greater prosperity. Yet when the showdown came down twice to all but closing down the government, between him and the republicans over his budgets, the republicans folded and gave him what he wanted.

Since George Bush has been in office, he has consistently talked a good game when it came to the annual budget. He threatened veto after veto on congressional spending, but in the end he always folded and signed the bills for more deficit spending. And after six and a half years, his first actual veto, was to veto publicly funded stem cell research. Never mind the billions of pork all along the way in those first six budgets, On everything from bridges to nowhere, to money to build questionable museums in obscure locations, to the building of monuments (libraries) named after members of congress and the senate.

Which brings us to some of the current budgetary brinkmanship, being played out of late over the defense funding appropriations bill. It was loaded with pork too. But special interest prevailed and it passed, with hundreds of billions of dollars earmarked for spending.Spending that has absolutely no relationship to either paying or supplying our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush says that he will veto it. But I have faith in him. He will find a "workable way" to give the democrats what they want. Because if he doesn't? He doesn't get what he wants.

Does this seem to be like watching a band of criminal rogues, sitting and divvying up the loot after they have robbed you? Sure does to me.

But I digress. the point of my commentary is to attempt to correlate what taxation and the representations of the three current candidates actually represents and ultimately means, for us who do pay taxes.

The bottom line IMO, because of the rising price of oil and the ever increasing reality of rising inflation as a result, raising taxes is something that should be the last item of consideration, for any logical thinking person. Particularly those that we send to Washington to actually look after the nation's money and business. Or anyone seriously considering coming to the people and asking them to vote themselves more taxes and hardships for that matter. But it's not that important to many it would seem. Be it the democrat party or the republican party, they are both tunneling from opposite ends of the hill, each toward the same ultimate goal.

And that goal remains, to bleed the people over opposing political ideologies and to fund their pet pork barrel realities.

For the past four years, we have been told that the issues that Americans care about, are the war in Iraq, affordable health care for all and the economy. Forgetting for a moment that there are other issues of concern, by just looking at and reading the sentiments of Americans in the elections of 2004, that representation was proven false. And by looking at the midterms of 2006, once again what is truly represented, is that the American people are tired of their elected officials in congress, not listening to the people.

It's not the war, or health care, or the economy. It's the loss of jobs and the inability of the average American to progress along the path to bettering his/her own existence. You can say that represents the expressed concerns of many over the economy. but what it really represents is the concern of people over their longterm welfare as a nation. Their jobs and their future prospects of better jobs are drying up everyday, as we continue along the path of trade agreements and trade deficits and the debt that is piling up on everyone's doorstep, who is simply trying to maintain what they have.

And in the midst of that reality, comes the liberal democrats who are openly telling us that it is their intent to raise taxes. While the supposed conservative republican, will if elected, be held hostage as the previous administration has, to signing off on whatever, the supposed progressives on the other side of the isle want to pass as spending bills. As they want to get their pet pork projects too.

In my humble opinion, based upon what I am seeing in the global political and economic market, is that we as a country are passing into a slow walk into the darkness as a debt ridden and fallen nation. Our debt both national and personal will continue to accumulate, as the price of oil will continue to rise, as will the cost of living and the further loss of production jobs in this country.

And this is the atmosphere that the democrats and their supporters, will foist as all the more reasons why, we as a nation, should just knuckle under and accept more taxes. It's for our own good. What we as a nation better begin doing, is bring the guns of reason to bear on the US Congress and the US Senate. We had better begin to let them know that under no circumstances, will we as a people, continue to be sold down the river over altruistic at best and socialist at worst, political ideologies.

The race for the presidency is surely important. But the message to the congress and senate is where the rubber meets the road. And it is where our survivability as a nation truly rests. So as you scrape and scratch to buy gas over the next six months, remember these things this November when you get to the polls to vote. Take a look at the price of gasoline that morning as you drive by, and think back to the promises of the democrats in 2005 after hurricane Katrina. And what they said they would do about the ridiculous price of gas if they were given majority in congress.

Then think about what the current president and his perspective republican replacement have done and claim that they will do to address the same problems and realities. The time is now, not in six months, for the people of this country, to come together as a power and force that these gratuitous spend thrifts in Washington will listen to. Either that? Or come this time next year, we may all be paying ten dollars a gallon for gas, and running gauntlets of rioters in the streets for food for our families. And picking up the remains of what has been destroyed in the next attack on this nation.

Write your senators and congressmen and let them know, "We are tired as hell! And we aren't going to take it anymore!"