I never cease to be amazed at the Liberal Leftist Socialist Progressive mindset in American politics.  I am daily appalled at the covert and overt attempts of those following the toxicity of liberalism in driving wedges between sectors of our society in order to gain an edge.  We have endured the “fair share” and “share the wealth” mantra, rhetoric, and diatribe for so long, most seem to accept it as normal rather.  America, “the rich” are not your enemy simply because they are rich, nor are they your friend based on that criterion.  If they are your enemy or your friend, it is because of who and what they are individually not as a class of people.  I, for one, am happy that we have a system of economics that enables people to become rich and even what some call ‘filthy rich.’  I am not one of those individuals monetarily but believe me I AM RICH.  I’m rich in my faith, my family, my friends, and my sense of self-esteem.  I have riches that NO ONE, no government or individual can strip from me.  You may impoverish me, restrict my freedom, and describe me in the basest of terms but you WILL NEVER take my Joy or my sense of Liberty and my Internal Riches.  But, that is another story for another time.

I have determined in my heart that the Liberal Leftist Socialist Progressives, especially the national Democrats, have never met a tax they did not like.  But, that would go with the ideological territory of ‘freebies’, ‘entitlements’, and the desire to ‘buy votes’ and ‘loyalty’ to their agenda and cause.  They must have MONEY and since the government does not make a dime the only money the politicians must use for their schemes is OUR MONEY and they acquire it via TAXATION, FINES, and LEVIES!  It has been so long since we had taxation with representation, I’m not sure it is even a possibility any longer.  We elect people who make promises to represent us in Washington only to find that they are more interested in their bottom line, cronyism, personal power, and becoming a lifetime member of the ‘ole boy network.’  I don’t know if they have secret classes on the process or not, but they all seem to be cut from the same cloth.

Something that smacked me in the face recently was the latest attempt of the Liberal Leftist to rebrand the so-called ‘Sin Taxes’ as ‘Health Taxes.’  WHAT IS THAT?  I laughed when they branded it a Tax on Sin but am completely perplexed by the new idea that it is a Tax on Health or a Tax to have Health.  Whichever descriptor they might mean and which goal they are aiming.  I doubt they know either.  I’m quite sure this is just another way to make the distasteful more palatable and their hope is that it will resonate with the voters and be embraced.  The taxes on alcoholic beverages (sin tax) is being rebranded as a health tax.  I’m not making this up.  This is the brain-child of Leftists such as New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and other prominent Democrats.  They claim that higher taxes on alcohol, tobacco will reduce the consumption of those products.  SERIOUSLY?  No, the reality is that rather than reducing usage but creates a heavier burden on those on the lower end of the economic spectrum.

How many people do you know who drink, smoke, etc. that quit because of the higher rate of taxation?  I would venture very few if any.  Who do those taxes hurt?  Not the rich, they can afford to pay the tax.  It hurts the poor and tragically many of them provide a lower quality or quantity of food and medicine for themselves and their families in order to enable them to continue their consumption of the former items under the “Sin Tax” umbrella.  How is that a good thing?  Understand, I am not advocating for people to abuse alcohol or use products that are harmful to them physically.  The desired stigma of consuming a product subject to the “Sin Tax” never materialized and now to rebrand it as a “Health Tax” is ludicrous if not laughable.

What happens if you tax a product to the point that people have difficulty obtaining it?  In the case of alcohol, you brighten the prospects of “illegal booze” such as moonshine because it is “untaxed.”  The inherent dangers of the nectar of the moonshine are enormous.  Creating a Tax Structure that beckons “black markets” is economically negative.  I am convinced, and statistics will prove me right, that the worst abusers of alcohol, those who consume the most and inflict the most costs on society, are IMMUNE from Sin Taxes.  They don’t care!  They want what they want and will do whatever it takes to get it.  Rather than being promoted in the interest of health or a reduction in the consumption of those products, politicians have a propensity to determine the level of “Sin Taxes” or “Health Taxes” based on the size of the budgetary hole they wish to plug.

Those taxes have a price tag for society and government that the politicians cannot calculate and ignore.  The true cost of those taxes on society and the government are usually hidden by the politicians because revealing them would expose their hypocrisy.  I saw an illustration that is apropos.  If a man punches someone in the face and does serious bodily injury, the police will charge him with assault.  But if that same man had a couple of beers before the incident, it would be recorded by the police and media as an alcohol-related assault.  The question is, “did the two beers actually have any real bearing on the incident?”  Possibly but probably not.  However, it would allow the authorities to facilitate their argument to “Tax” consumption as a deterrent to violence, etc.

The government has a long history of trying to spin their confiscation of our money as being in our best interest and for our own good.  I wonder when they will decide we need to have our pay sent directly to them and they then dole out the portion they decide we need or deserve?  Taxation is, in the truest sense, is legal theft by government.  Is not our money, our property?  Is taking people’s property without their consent theft?  Before you argue that we agreed to the Income Tax via the Sixteenth Amendment.  It was adopted on February 3, 1913, and in my view is one of the worst amendments we have allowed to our American Constitution.  American history before Congress enacted the income tax in 1913 (first imposed the following year) demonstrates that the federal government was able to pay its bills, keep the nation largely out of debt, and respect the privacy of American citizens. Even during wartime, Congress had a method of imposing direct war taxes that respected states’ rights and American citizens’ privacy. I suggest you do a bit of study and see how we operated and I believe you just might realize that we were more efficient and honored the idea that ‘personal property’ was considered sacred to our founders and framers.  The Income Tax has allowed the government to expand its intrusion into our lives and control more and more of every segment of society.

 Sin or Health Taxes are simply extensions of the government’s insatiable thirst for OUR MONEY and thereby TOTAL CONTROL of our lives.  That is another reason that I VOTE NO on the Liberal Leftist in each election and will do so again in November 2018.  I ask that you consider joining me in sending a message to Washington – ENOUGH!

God bless you and God bless America!