Little Upsets Me More

Little upsets me more than the tendency people have to paint others who don't agree with them with a broad stoke, and in turn lump people together under general, meaningless terms such as "Left-wing", "Right-wing", "Socialist", "Marxist", etc. This is extremely short-sighted as it does not facilitate an honest and open debate of ideas or issues and quite often reverts to simple name calling.

One of the most obvious examples of this is the recent coverage, or lack thereof, by the main-stream media in regards to the Tea Party Protests that were held all across this great country of ours on April 15th, as well as their inaccurate overall assessment of the Tea Party movement in general as an "anit-Obama" movement on the part of "right-wing extremists". Let me just say that in order to truly understand the basis upon which the movement is founded, one must have a memory that is not only longer than the last 3 months since our current President took office, but it must be longer than the previous 8 years of our most recent President as well. The issue of excessive taxation is over 75 years in the making and is not really even one relating to the Office of the President or even of the Executive Branch itself, but rather it is an issue of our out-of-touch Senators and Representatives in Congress, since it is the Legislative Branch that has the ability to lay and collect taxes as outlined in the US Constitution.

Our current tax code is so convoluted that average citizens, even those working for the IRS, have trouble deciphering it. This leads to a situation where those who can afford to, such as the wealthier among us, hire someone to find the loopholes within the tax code, and thus reduce their obligation to pay their fair share of taxes. Let's also set something straight when it comes to the issue of "their fair share". Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution not only grants Congress the power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Impost and Excises..." but also directs that "all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States". In other words, our current system, where your tax rate (the percentage of your income that's required to be paid in taxes) increases as your income increases, is entirely unconstitutional. Simple math dictates that a "fair share" is directly proportional - so if the uniform tax rate is 10% someone who earns $50,000 per year would be liable to pay $5,000 in taxes while someone earning $500,000 per year would be liable to pay $50,000. That is, by definition, the truest interpretation of one's "fair share". A flat tax such as this would close the many loopholes in the current tax code and would ensure that we actually collect the full amount of taxes that are due.

The tax code needs to be simplified to remove the ability of our government to drive behaviors through targeted taxes and eliminate the class warfare that has become so prevalent these days. Immigrants come to this country in droves, often times illegally (but that is a topic for another day...) in order to have the opportunity to make the most of themselves, through hard work and perseverance, and to live the American Dream. To punish people for their determination and their resulting success flies in the face of the very principles upon which this great country was founded. After all, it is the people who work hard, and as a result have managed to get ahead, that start and grow the small businesses in this country that generate "real" jobs for the rest of us. Oddly enough, I've never heard of anyone getting a job from a lazy poor person.

My intention was to keep this short and sweet, but I fear I may have failed in that regard. As a veteran, I am very passionate about our country and the ideals upon which it was founded. But keep in mind, I don't speak for everyone within the Tea Party movement, only for myself. And no, contrary to what the main stream media would have you believe, I'm not rich, I don't own my own business and believe it or not, I don't feel any worse off as a result. Also, as it regards political affiliation, I am a registered member of the Constitution Party, for what it's worth.

I love to engage in political discourse and it is imperative that we as citizens try to understand where our fellow citizens are coming from - we don't need to agree necessarily, only to understand and appreciate each others' viewpoints. That is one of the things that makes this country so great - the freedom to engage each other in the arena of ideas, without fear of retribution.