Government Control Not the Dream

Control of the people's lives was not what the Patriot generation had in mind when they decided to fight the War for Independence and separate from Great Britain. In fact, they were separating for the very fact that they wanted to have control over their lives and money, and not the government. And now the new administration is beginning to go back to the English model, so to speak, of taxing in order to pay for their policies and programs which have not direct benefit to the people of this country whatsoever.

Let's compare these two periods of history. In the 1760's, the government of Great Britain was in some financial trouble. They needed money; badly. So, they began to pass a series of acts that increased taxes on everyday goods in order to raise this capital. They placed a tax on sugar, which the colonists used to make molasses, which in turn was used to make rum (a major commodity in those days). A stamp tax was initiated, and any letter or public paper, even a deck of cards, had to have this stamp on it, or it was illegal. The colonists fought these acts and had them repealed. Then came the Townshend duties. These were duties on everyday things like tea, glass, and other items that the colonists used daily. These taxes were being passed and foisted upon our forefathers and they were seeing no direct benefit from them at all. They were being told it was to help pay for the war that enabled them to still be speaking English and not French, but they weren't seeing anything from the taxes they were paying. And the rest, as we all know, became history when they threw the tea overboard, banded together and fought the English until they gained their independence.

Are we Americans going to begin to see the same things happen in our country two hundred years later? Are we going to begin to be taxed on items we use in our everyday lives because it is in the long run going to "benefit" us, but in essence we will never see any clear betterment of our lives? Congress and the President have not signed into law a so called "stimulus" package that has a running tab of $787 billion and will only go higher if something is not done, and soon. And the cost of this massive spending bill is going to be paid off by our children, our grandchildren, and their children. This is something that we cannot let happen. We must make it stop, and we are the only ones that can do this!

The Socialist government is going to begin reaching into our pockets and telling us that by taking our money, we are helping this country. We are providing for our future, and for our children's future. Aren't these the same propagandistic lies that the Soviets were spouting out to the people of Russia when they took over? The only thing that we will be providing is the enlargement of the national debt and steeper slide toward depression or socialism, and neither of those is a slope that we want to head down. In order to pay for this bill, the income tax on American's today is going to go up. Sure, the socialists in Congress and the White House will say they won't, and they will be giving American's tax cuts across the board (except for the evil rich of course) but we all know that will not happen. Income tax will go up, fairly imperceptibly, and we will see an increase in other taxes, like property tax and sales taxes. State taxes will go up because they will need to pay off their part of the burden, which, of course, will be placed on the citizens of that state. And for what will we be paying for, might one ask?

If one takes a look at the stimulus package, and what it entails, you will find that there isn't much stimulation going on at all. For example, $32 billion is going to transportation projects and another $10 billion to railway and mass transit projects. Now, I can see how this might help things get to people and places faster and more efficiently, but is that really a necessity for an economic stimulus package? And how about $6 billion dollars for projects that bring high-speed internet access to rural and undeserved areas? Okay, so people can buy things online faster and with more ease, but if they don't have the money, how does that help them? Approximately $153 billion alone is going to healthcare projects that will do wonders for promoting nationalized healthcare, but do nothing for the economy. One could go on and on, but the crux of the matter is that Congress has now appropriated 787 billion taxpayer dollars, money that most Americans work very hard to earn, and spending it on things that will have no direct benefit to them whatsoever. The spending of their money will do them no good.

By doing all this, the government is doing exactly what Parliament and King George III did in the 1760's and 70's. They are telling us that we are their piggy bank, and now that they need the money, they are going to break us open and take as much money from us as they need too. And then, with the money that they leave us, they are going to tell us how to spend it. Have you been saving up for that brand new Mustang that you have always wanted? Sorry, that car is not fuel efficient enough. Go out and buy one of those new, environmentally sound cars, like a Prius. And you shouldn't be eating out at McDonalds or Burger King, because their food isn't healthy for you, and if you get fat, well, we just may have to tax you more. Do you see what I am getting at? The government is more and more beginning to intrude upon our private lives and telling us what we can and cannot do. Is that freedom? Does that sound like the words of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution to you? It seems as if the right to life, liberty and property has now been boiled down to life as we want you to live it, the liberty we are willing to give to you, and the property that we the government don't need from you (but we will need most of it. It's for your future!)

Stand up Americans! Don't let the Socialists in Congress and the White House just take your money without any real benefit to you coming out of it. Say enough is enough. It is our money, we worked hard for it, and we deserve to keep what it rightfully ours. This does not mean we should not pay our rightful taxes. Sure, they aren't fun, but a benefit does come out of them. But, when we begin to be excessively taxed for things that give us no benefit whatsoever, and do not improve conditions at all, that is unjust, and we cannot stand for it. These are the same things that Jefferson spoke against in his Declaration, and it is time that we once more take his words to heart and say no to this vastly egregious spending bill that will damage America for years to come.