Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Posts tagged taxes
MasterCard Leading the Path Toward “A World Beyond Cash”
01 day ago
Source: http://www.occupycorporatism.com
By Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
MasterCard Leading the Path Toward “A World Beyond Cash”
Earlier this month it was announced that MasterCard is supporting the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to create and distribute a biometric identification card to all Nigerian citizens in an effort to ensure all citizens participate in MasterCard services.
The National Identity Smart Cards (NISC) will assist the Nigerian government ensure that “the individual’s identity is being first affirmed.”
According to the National Identity Card Policy (NICP) document this “pilot program” is a precursor to a Universal Identification “infrastructure” wherein there will be the creation of:
• National Identity Management System (NIMS)
• National Identity Database (NID)
• National Indemnification Number (NIN)
The NISC will verify and authenticate the individual’s identity to the government against the information in the database. This card is manufactured with a microprocessor chip “designed to handle multiple applications including identity verification, authentication and payment functionalities.”
From the age of 16, citizens must have a NISC. The card “is property of the government” and cannot be damaged or destroyed without penalties being attributed to the citizen. This also ensures that the Nigerian government retains the right to take the NISC from the citizen – effectively cutting them off from nationality and the ability to pay for products and services.
The technocratically controlled Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has implemented charges for “handling cash” and cash transactions in an initiative to shift the social consciousness toward a cashless society.
Lebanon is being coerced into the “benefits” of a cashless society with MasterCard working with ABC malls to entice shoppers with the Bank Audi MasterCard Credit Card (BACC) that allows users to “tap and go” when making purchases.
In 2011, MasterCard positioned itself against cash payments in a “war on cash” which focused on markets such as India to bring the “cashless society” to reality.
Ajay Banga, chief executive officer of MasterCard Worldwide spoke at the Fletcher School about the advantages of a cashless world and outlining the “challenges of moving away from cash.”
Banga said that there probably will not be a completely pure cashless society; however under the guise of improving the current payment system, cash is not sustainable.
MasterCard is dedicating itself to a strategy that will set a standard and become influential to the future of payments. By coercing urbanized centers to the trendiness of going cashless, their influence on the behavior of consumers and their perception of being cashless can ensure that this move is made.
The focus on developing nations such as India and Nigeria are because their governments are willing to take “foreign aid” in exchange for enslaving their citizens.
Banga explained: “I absolutely think that electronic payments can be helpful. The problem is that the money has to reside somewhere… If immigrant communities find it difficult to put their money with a bank, I don’t know if they’ll do it with a cell phone provider either. The challenge is finding a way to anchor mobile payments for the future.”
The program entitled, “Killing Cash: Pros and Cons of Mobile Money for the World’s Poor” explains how “mobile money provides a viable alternative to tangible cash” for the “poor and unbanked populations.”
MasterCard may have their sights on Sweden as another likely place to implement a cashless society with the sales pitch that this would reduce robberies and crime in the country.
In the city of Uppsala , cash is not handled at branches of the Swedbank. Merchants are encouraged not to deal with cash. Since 2012 this mandate has been in effect with the powerful ideal that crime will stop if cash is no longer traded as tender for good and services.
Uppsala retailers are being enticed by MasterCard’s KDY program that facilitates “deals” for retailers to post for consumers to redeem. This keeps the cashless circle flowing. Marketing this scheme as “digital discounts for high-tech savvy customers” appeals to the vain nature of the consumer while giving them a trendy method of payment and redemption – which is integral to its success.
In 2012, MasterCard unveiled their “vision” for “A World Beyond Cash” as the rise of pre-paid consumer will pilot this Brave New World through defining how payments are made.
This scheme involves giving consumers incentives to go cashless. With the marketing-mind control firmly in place in the US, this is an easy task. By simply increasing the amount of times consumers use plastic instead of cash, the brand will become commonplace of its own evolution.
In fact, 3 out of 4 households are cashless. Retailers are refusing the accept cash as payment. Payments on smartphones and tablets increase the ideology that cashless is easier and more convenient.
The 2012 document entitled, “Cashless System Commission Report” was produced to analyze the effectiveness of cashless payments such s electronic benefit transfer (EBT).
After studies and documents were presented to the Commission, it was encouraged to utilize cashless benefits and “increase education” so that the public could view this ideal as better than other forms of benefit allocation.
For those US citizens using government subsidies, acclimating them to accepting digital over analog is easy when there is not choice and the citizen cannot live without the assistance.
This is copyrighted original work published by Susanne Posel and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Original work can be viewed at www.occupycorporatism.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available upon direct email or written request Click Here for more information on extended permissions and contact information of original author.
Susanne Posel, Original Author, Original Copyright Holder
www.OccupyCorporatism.com
Portland, Oregon, United States, -08:00
Glenn “Kane” Jacobs Mental Smackdown of Tennessee Lt Governor
25 days ago
Posted by NextNewsNetwork
Stream: http://NextNewsNetwork.com
WWE Pro Wrestling champion Glenn “Kane” Jacobs is about to deliver a mental smackdown on Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor over a debate on the internet tax AKA the “Marketplace Fairness Act”!
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As many Tennessee residents are aware of, RINO Ramsey has many interests, but we the people of Tennessee is not one of them. Ramsey, along with fellow “republican conservatives”, such as Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, help to prove the only difference in party politics is the lapel pin they may be wearing.
From an earlier message sent by Matt Collins:
Lt. Governor Challenged To Debate Internet Sales Tax By Professional Wrestler
Ron Ramsey Pushes Internet Sales Tax; Grassroots Pushes Back
Knoxville, TN – Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey was challenged to a debate on the Internet Sales Tax by professional WWE wrestler and anti-tax activist Glenn Jacobs. In a blog post today Glenn Jacobs (stage name Kane) criticized the Lt. Governor for pushing the Internet sales tax and called for a debate on the topic at the Lt. Governor’s convenience. The blog post can be viewed here: http://www.tnliberty.org/?p=
“Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey claims that the Internet sales tax mandate is not a new tax. Nor, according to Ramsey, is it an unfair tax. Ramsey is wrong on both counts.” Glenn writes. “ I, therefore, invite Lt. Gov. Ramsey for a policy debate on the issue of the Marketplace Fairness Act in a public forum at his convenience.”
In recent weeks Glenn Jacobs has been appearing in various media outlets advocating against the national Internet sales tax mandate with appearances on nationally syndicated terrestrial radio, satellite radio, and local radio stations in Tennessee. Jacobs has written multiple blog posts and op-ed pieces against the national Internet sales tax mandate.
Earlier this week the TN Campaign for Liberty challenged Lt. Gov Ramsey to show he had paid the obscure TN Use Tax for his online purchases after he called the vast majority of Tennesseans “criminals” for not paying it. That release can be viewed here: http://tnreport.com/2013/05/
The national Internet sales tax mandate will likely come up for a vote in the US House of Representatives later this year. The bill is known as the “Marketplace Fairness Act” and is being opposed by the Campaign for Liberty, eBay, the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks, the Heartland Institute, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, and many other conservative figures.
Glenn Jacobs lives with his family in Jefferson City, Tennessee and is a co-founder of the Tennessee Liberty Alliance www.TNLiberty.org. Mr. Jacobs is a critic of big government and a professional wrestler with the WWE.
Just Apologize if You Don’t Pay Your Taxes to the IRS
01 week ago
in Taxes
Source: http://godfatherpolitics.com
By Gary DeMar
The next time you get a threatening letter from the Internal Revenue Service for some infraction, just apologize and move on.
If you underpay and are assessed a penalty, just quote back to the agency what senior IRS official Lois Lerner said when she was asked a question: “I’m not good at math.”
If it’s good enough for the IRS, then it should be good enough for us. Tax payers of America unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains!
In 2012, the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative political groups to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The rules regarding non-profit organizations are very specific. The IRS was asking questions and searching for information that was not part of the requirements. It was obvious harassment.
Folks at the IRS are blaming “low-level” employees in its Cincinnati office. The problem with is lame excuse is that the Cincinnati office is THE office “where determinations on tax-exempt organizations’ eligibility are made and is the only physical office in the complex IRS bureaucracy dedicated to tax-exempt determinations.”
The IRS hierarchy demanded that groups reveal the internal workings of their organizations, a provision that is not required by the law. This included “the identification of members, how they are selected, who they associate with, and even what they discuss.”
The tip off to the IRS was words like “tea party” or “patriot” on their exemption applications.
An Associated Press story made me laugh out loud:
“The agency — led at the time by a Bush administration appointee — blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware. But that wasn’t good enough for Republicans in Congress, who are conducting several investigations and asked for more.
It’s not the fault of liberals. It was George Bush’s fault . . . I’m not good at math . . . low level government employees. Everything but the fault of liberals.
Let’s get something straight. Administrators and appointees come and go, but bureaucrats go on forever. Most government employees are liberal. Talk by conservatives to shrink the size of government is a threat to government unions and their employees.
It’s time to abolish the IRS and implement a low-level consumption tax that includes a requirement to shrink government expenditures.
If it’s a “states’ rights” issue, why are they asking permission from the federal government? (Internet Sales Tax)
02 weeks ago
Source: http://www.bcpublicrecord.com
By Tona
For many months now, “limited government, free market, reduced spending, Conservative Republicans™” Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker and Bill Haslam have been lobbying for and/or sponsoring the Marketplace Fairness Act, also known by a more appropriate title: the Internet Sales Tax. The tax-raising Republicans have been touting this as the states collecting taxes “that were already theirs”, or “making it fair for the brick-and-mortar businesses located in the state”, or “restoring state sovereignty” as if this is some sort of 10th Amendment takeback from the federal government – when in reality it is just a tax increase. Their appeal to the currently popular anti-federal sentiment in the country is not only unconvincing, it is without constitutional merit. Note that they are counting you as fools to fall for this “states’ rights” language.
If these leaders truly believed in “marketplace fairness” for brick-and-mortar stores, then Tennessee would not have cut the sweetheart deal with online retailer and corporate welfare queen Amazon to locate here and not collect any sales taxes – even for sales within the state. How’s that for an unfair advantage? Nobody argues that a sale made within the state isn’t subject to state sales taxes – except for our state government and Amazon, who enjoys an unfair advantage over all the other brick-and-mortar retailers in Tennessee thanks to Governor Haslam who now claims to be interested in “marketplace fairness”. Amazon also received a 10-year, 50% tax break on property taxes to locate in Loudon County. Apparently tax revenue (or is that “fairness”?) is for sale to the highest bidder. We don’t need a new federal law to correct that.
Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states in part:
“No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.”
The federal government cannot issue a federal tax on interstate sales. They are exports, whether to another state or another country. The federal government can however regulate interstate “commerce” or transportation of the goods between states. The states themselves do not have this power over one another. They cannot regulate interstate trade period – which is precisely why sales taxes for purchases you made in another state have not been collected. They are exports to your resident state. So the money-grubbers in the state created the “use” tax to take some of your money anyway – despite the fact that they provide zero services to the brick-and-mortar store in the other state you imported from and your “use” of the item you purchased doesn’t induce any burden on your neighbors that require additional tax revenue that isn’t covered somewhere else by another tax.
So why ask permission from the federal government? Because they have to. Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution states in part:
“No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.”
So guess what? The states are only entitled to collecting their new Internet Sales Tax and subtracting their expenses for executing inspections of these imports/exports. The rest of the revenue is required by the U.S. Constitution to go to the U.S. Treasury. At best, Tennessee could add more cigarette gestapo agents to the state Department of Revenue. The net revenue proceeds to the states legally should be ZERO, because see, the founders really did believe in some semblance of free trade and INDEPENDENT states.
There is no “state right” to this money. There never was.
TN State Legislature Truth Updates April 5, 2013
01 month ago
Source: http://www.bcpublicrecord.com
By Tona
State Legislature Truth Updates April 5, 2013
Last week in the Tennessee General Assembly, House bills requiring labeling of GMO foods and seeds were deferred until 2014. House Subcommittees are shutting down for the year, while Committees finish hearing bills as the legislature prepares to begin budget discussions.
This week, a bill prohibiting United Nations representatives from monitoring elections in Tennessee failed in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee. A bill making evidence obtained by drones inadmissible in court, except when a warrant is obtained or in exigent and authorized exceptions, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. The bill authorizes civil suits against law enforcement agencies to prevent or stop violations of the legislation.
Several tax bills are moving forward. The House unanimously passed a bill reducing the sales tax on food ¼ of a % saving about $25 million a year which is about $3.50 per individual. This makes the State portion of sales tax on foods 5%. A bill raising the Hall income tax exemption levels for senior citizens in 2013 from $16,200 to $33,000 for single filers and from $27,000 to $59,000 for joint filers passed the Senate Tax Subcommittee. Tennessee has the highest beer tax rate in the nation. The Beer Tax Reform Act of 2013 removes the wholesaler beer tax of 17% replacing it with a flat tax of $35.60 per barrel. The legislation is moving forward in both the House and Senate.
The Workers’ Compensation Reform Act of 2013 passed the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee and is headed to the floor next week. The state workers’ compensation system was established in 1919. Tennessee is one of only two States to adjudicate workers’ compensation claims in the trial courts, causing medical costs related to workers’ compensation to be some of the highest in the nation. The overhaul is suppose to make the system more efficient by allowing allow workers to receive benefits faster and return to work sooner. The bill has already passed the Senate 28-2, with Blount County Senator Doug Overbey voting against it.
A bill allowing State legislators to nominate their parties candidate for general elections of US Senators was taken off notice. This bill attempted to partially return the process of selecting Senators back to State legislature. The 17th amendment to the US Constitution allegedly ratified 100 years ago, requires popular election of US Senators, although some States were already doing this prior to the amendment. A copy of the State Legislative Journals documenting the ratification process of the 17th amendment in Tennessee is available at www.bcpublicrecord.com. This reporter visited the Tennessee State Library and Archives to obtain documentation of Tennessee’s ratification process for the 14th, 16th and 17th amendments to the federal Constitution and is happy to share those documents.
This is Tona Monroe with Blount County Public Record. I am delighted to bring you these weekly State legislative updates and thank Truth Radio for the opportunity. For more information on these bills, visit www.bcpublicrecord.com.
The Early Stages of ObamaCare
0Source: http://karendecoster.com
Here is a great talk given at The 21 Convention in 2012, by Doug McGuff, MD, a prominent member of the ancestral health (paleo-primal) community: “Fitness, Health, and Liberty.” Doug, an emergency room physician, is well known for his ‘Body By Science‘ program, a high-intensity interval training program.
This is an important presentation because Doug presents the historical picture on how the physician-patient relationship went from a fiduciary relationship between provider and consumer to a 3rd party morass of collectivized medicine that sacrificed individual services to the needs of the masses in general in order to conform to the rules outlined by the medical establishment-insurance industry alliance.
While it is easy to blame the Democrats or blame Obama for the nationalization of medical care, this system began to form many years ago under the auspices of self-serving medical practitioners who built alliances with the government-medical establishment in the pursuit of rent-seeking arrangements. Dr. McGuff notes that doctors, who had short-term gains in mind, ultimately sacrificed their profession to these pursuits and thus “set into motion the long-term unintended consequences that resulted in their ultimate enslavement.”
His discussion of the formation of the “Blues” plans to guarantee payment for services while receiving tax-exempt status in exchange for community ratings is spot on. Community ratings, that did not allow for discrimination based on individual health status, were the beginnings of socialized medicine and thus opened the door to moral hazard and the current system of pre-paid medical care that defies all the principles of personal accountability and the free market.
This presentation is 72 minutes, but it is worth every minute of your time. I work in this industry and can tell you that Dr. McGuff has presented the best short timeline I have seen on the topic of how 3rd-party insurance and government-business alliances came to destroy the U.S. health care system. Dr. McGuff is also a libertarian, as if you can’t tell by the presentation.
State Capitol Hill Review Weekly Updates
0Source: http://www.bcpublicrecord.com
By Tona
Each week while the State legislature is in session, a weekly update will be posted here for your review. These weekly updates are not written by BC Public Record. BC Public Record expresses no opinion on these bills by posting these updates. Discussion of bills will be posted separately. The weekly updates are posted for your information, since there is so little media coverage of State government in Blount County.
State Government
Each week while the General Assembly is in session, updates will be posted here. These updates are not written by BC Public Record. No opinion on these updates is expressed here. For news and commentary on legislation please read the articles on our home page.
The Tennessee General Assembly
House of Representatives
CAPITOL HILL REVIEW
A weekly wrap-up of legislative news
Contact: Cade Cothren, 
(615) 741-5185 cade.cothren@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-5185 cade.cothren@capitol.tn.govGeneral Assembly hears State of the State Address
Governor unveils budget proposal
Governor BillHaslam delivered his annual State of the State Address to a joint convention this week, unveiling his budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Haslam addressed multiple issues during the State of the State, the most prominent of which include job recruitment and workforce development, investments in both K-12 and higher education, lowering taxes, and a continued push to make government more efficient and effective.
House lawmakers were pleased with the governor’s priorities, and look forward to moving his agenda forward through the legislature. Among the key points in the governor’s speech was a focus on balanced budgets, low taxes, and fiscal responsibility. As Washington, D.C. and other states are mired in partisan gridlock with out of control spending, the governor emphasized that Tennessee has made responsible decisions that will continue to ensure the state is positioned to be a top leader in the country on jobs.
Job Recruitment and Workforce Development
Building on the success of legislation passed during the 107th General Assembly, Governor Haslam’s $32.6 billion balanced budget makes major investments in job recruitment and workforce development, including:
- $16.5 million budgeted to provide technology and equipment related to workforce development programs for community colleges and technology centers across the state.
- A new technical education complex at NortheastStateCommunity College in the Tri-Cities to help train for manufacturing related jobs.
- A much-needed lab building at Nashville State Community College to help train the next generation of students in Middle Tennessee.
- A new state-of-the-art technology center in Smyrna that will be managed in conjunction with Nissan to provide training for area businesses looking for high-skilled employees.
In addition, the Governor’s budget includes strategic capital investments statewide that will help fund programs to ensure Tennesseans have the skills needed to obtain well-paying, 21st century jobs after graduation.
K-12 and Higher Education Investment
A large portion of Monday’s State of the State Address was committed to improving education, an issue that both the Governor and legislators have made a priority. The budget proposal calls for:
- 100% funding for the Basic Education Program (BEP) formula.
- A $76.9 million increase in K-12 public school funding, including salary increases for K-12 teachers.
- A school choice program that will allow low-income families who have kids in the lowest-performing schools to attend other schools.
- $307.3 million committed for capital improvements (buildings and infrastructure) at our higher education institutions.
- The investment in an online university focused on improving affordability and access to higher education for the more than 800,000 Tennesseans that have obtained some college credit but have not yet graduated.
In addition to these education proposals during the State of the State, Governor Haslam also announced a strategic initiative called “Drive to 55”. This new initiative, the goal of which is to ensure Tennessee has the best-trained workforce in America, will seek to increase the number of Tennesseans that have earned an Associates degree or higher from 32% to 55% by the year 2025.
Tax Cuts
Multiple tax cuts were passed during the 107th session of the General Assembly, including eliminating the gift tax, lowering the sales tax on food, and phasing out the death tax. Similar to last year, the Governor’s 2013-2014 budget includes additional tax cuts for Tennesseans, including:
- A further reduction of the sales tax on groceries to a flat 5%.
- A cut to the Hall Tax which will raise the income exemption level from $26,000 to $33,000 for individuals and $37,000 to $59,000 for joint filers.
- A plan to fully fund the property tax relief program to help low-income seniors, veterans, and the disabled.
- A further reduction of the death tax that raises the income exemption level from $1.25 million to $2 million.
These tax cut proposals by Governor Haslam reflect an agreement with lawmakers to prioritize the needs of Tennesseans in a fiscally responsible manner that encourages job growth statewide.
Other Budget Highlights
Other highlights of Governor Haslam’s 2013-2014 budget include:
- A plan to spend $48 million in Corrections to compensate our local jails for housing more state prisoners.
- A proposal to streamline and better utilize the Criminal Gang Enhancement law, making our streets safer.
- A commitment to add $100 million to the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
- A proposal for worker’s compensation reform that will focus on fairness in the system for both the employee and the employer.
- Upgrading nearly 200 case manager positions in the Department of Children’s Services.
- $4.3 million for the MontgomeryCounty veteran’s home.
- $8 million for a statewide tourism fund to support the work of the tourism commission.
The week ahead…
FULL STORY
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Badnarick Responds to Gun Grab Hysteria
13 months ago
Former Presidential Candidate, Libertarian Author, and Constitutional Scholar, Michael Badnarick sits down with Gary Franchi to respond to the recent Gun Grab Hysteria.
More about WHDT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHDT
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Ron Paul on the Fiscal Trick
04 months ago
Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com
Posted by Lew Rockwell
From Facebook:
Despite claims that the Administration and Congress saved America from the fiscal cliff with an early morning vote today, the fact is that government spending has already pushed Americans over the cliff. Only serious reductions in federal spending will stop the cliff dive from ending in a crash landing, yet the events of this past month show that most elected officials remain committed to expanding the welfare-warfare state.
While there was much hand-wringing over the “draconian” cuts that would be imposed by sequestration, in fact sequestration does not cut spending at all. Under the sequestration plan, government spending will increase by 1.6 trillion over the next eight years. Congress calls this a cut because without sequestration spending will increase by 1.7 trillion over the same time frame. Either way it is an increase in spending.
Yet even these minuscule cuts in the “projected rate of spending” were too much for Washington politicians to bear. The last minute “deal” was the worst of both worlds: higher taxes on nearly all Americans now and a promise to revisit these modest reductions in spending growth two months down the road. We were here before, when in 2011 Republicans demanded these automatic modest decreases in government growth down the road in exchange for a massive increase in the debt ceiling. As the time drew closer, both parties clamored to avoid even these modest moves.
Make no mistake: the spending addiction is a bipartisan problem. It is generally believed that one party refuses to accept any reductions in military spending while the other party refuses to accept any serious reductions in domestic welfare programs. In fact, both parties support increases in both military and domestic welfare spending. The two parties may disagree on some details of what kind of military or domestic welfare spending they favor, but they do agree that they both need to increase. This is what is called “bipartisanship” in Washington.
While the media played up the drama of the down-to-the-wire negotiations, there was never any real chance that a deal would not be worked out. It was just drama. That is how Washington operates. As it happened, a small handful of Congressional and Administration leaders gathered in the dark of the night behind closed doors to hammer out a deal that would be shoved down the throats of Members whose constituents had been told repeatedly that the world would end if this miniscule decrease in the rate of government spending was allowed to go through.
While many on both sides express satisfaction that this deal only increases taxes on the “rich,” most Americans will see more of their paycheck going to Washington because of the deal. The Tax Policy Center has estimated that 77 percent of Americans would see higher taxes because of the elimination of the payroll tax cut.
The arguments against the automatic “cuts” in military spending were particularly dishonest. Hawks on both sides warned of doom and gloom if, as the plan called for, the defense budget would have returned to 2007 levels of spending! Does anybody really believe that our defense spending was woefully inadequate just five years ago? And since 2007 we have been told that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next eight years military spending would increase 20 percent without the sequester and would increase 18 percent with the sequester. And this is what is called a dangerous reduction in defense spending?
Ironically, some of the members who are most vocal against tax increases and in favor of cuts to domestic spending are the biggest opponents of cutting a penny from the Pentagon budget. Over and over we were told of the hundreds of thousands of jobs that would be lost should military spending be returned to 2007 levels. Is it really healthy to think of our defense budget as a jobs program? Many of these allegedly free-market members sound more Keynesian than Paul Krugman when they praise the economic “stimulus” created by militarism.
As Chris Preble of the Cato Institute wrote recently, “It’s easy to focus exclusively on the companies and individuals hurt by the cuts and forget that the taxed wealth that funded them is being employed elsewhere.”
While Congress ultimately bears responsibility for deficit spending, we must never forget that the Federal Reserve is the chief enabler of deficit spending. Without a central bank eager to monetize the debt, Congress would be unable to fund the welfare-warfare state without imposing unacceptable levels of taxation on the American people. Of course, the Federal Reserve’s policies do impose an “inflation” tax on the American people; however, since this tax is hidden Congress does not fear the same public backlash it would experience if it directly raised income taxes.
I have little hope that a majority of Congress and the President will change their ways and support real spending reductions unless forced to by an economic crisis or by a change in people’s attitudes toward government. Fortunately, increasing numbers of Americans are awakening to the dangers posed by the growth of the welfare-warfare state. Hopefully this movement will continue to grow and force the politicians to reverse course before government spending, taxing, and inflation destroys our economy entirely.
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Photo added to original post.
This is a work in progess, a self learning tool and fun little project. Please excuse the slow development as it seems the needed proper time is always lacking. It is my hope that the combination of content and links to other sources of information in this simple blog may help awaken a few of the sleeping masses and encourage and inspire others to initiate their own research, ultimately for each person to be a light to help awaken others. Opinions expressed belong to me, myself and I. Also, a big thank you to all that take the time to visit, it is appreciated :)
