This is the time of year when we are all required to “render to Caesar”. I’m pretty sure that this president said he would not raise taxes on people making less than $200,000.00 per year so I did not worry because I have never had a six figure salary. Well, you can add that line to the, “You can keep your doctor” lie. Technically he did not raise our income taxes, he just let the old tax rate expire which automatically reset the tax rate to a higher level. Semantics for him, higher taxes for us. Not only did I have to pay more than last year, but I had better not die because inheritance taxes have increased and my children will probably have to pay the government for my demise.

The original tax rate of approximately 3% was imposed in 1862 to help pay for the Civil War. Before that, certain items like gold, silver, and jewelry were taxed but that tax was eliminated in favor of imposing tariffs on imported goods.  In 1872 the income tax was eliminated but revived again in 1894 – 1895 although 1895 saw the U.S. Supreme Court declare the income tax unconstitutional because of the way it was designed to be collected. In 1913 the sixteenth amendment changed all of that and gave us the burden we now know and dread.

There are literally hundreds of taxes that we pay today that did not exist before 1900. Somehow the greedy, lying politicians, who all speak in double entendres, have managed to secure a good life for themselves by taxing the ordinary citizen to death. Every tax is not necessarily called a tax. We all know about state taxes, property taxes, school taxes, sales taxes, luxury taxes (what the heck is a luxury?)  and those that are openly referred to as a tax. But then there are licensing fees which really are just another tax. Do you want to get married, go fishing, go hunting, own a dog, drive a car? The double entendre here is “license” which is really more money for the bureaucracy; therefore, just another tax. Then there are taxes imposed on things you use like gasoline, utilities, cigarettes, liquor and other commodities. These taxes are built in to the cost of the product so that you do not see the word “tax”, you just have to pay a higher price for their use based on what politicians have determined. Candidates  who want to increase taxes on big oil are advocating a higher price at the pump. Taxes on big oil will be passed on to you, the consumer. This kind of palaver is for the undereducated. Mandates  also create a kind of tax because if you do not comply with the mandate, you have to pay a fine (fine is another word for tax as defined by the U.S. Supreme Court when its decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare determined that the fines referred to in the health care act were actually a tax). Highway and bridge tolls were intended to be used to keep them in good repair, but we were convinced by our government that we needed a stimulus to repair our infrastructure.  Where has all of that tax money gone?

With all of the fees and taxes collected, there is never a full accounting of what happened to them. If you want to know that, good luck with your hunting; various departments cannot account for millions (maybe billions) of our tax dollars.  The law abiding,  citizens continue to be ripped off by the people they elected. And the people they elected live like royalty, voting raises and perks for themselves at will. The insult is that many government employees do not pay their taxes. This kind of puts a new spin on the term, “crime does not pay” ergo, those who do not pay their taxes are criminals.  What happened to government officials being “public servants”? It certainly no longer applies. If you want to press an issue with your congressman, you can expect a form letter in reply; that is, unless the congressman can figure out a way to tax, fine or mandate its imposition. Lobbyists are particularly good at providing convincing arguments for their causes and because they grease the wheels of government, they are given preference. What happened to the people’s lobby? Senators and representatives were elected to carry out the will of the people. In that respect they should be considered the people’s lobby. Instead they sell their power to the highest bidder without a consideration for the citizens who elected them. They are whores of the worst kind and their actions are felonious. The only way to make them pay is by voting them out.

We are once again in an election cycle where politicians will begin to champion their causes. A favorite is “education”. It sounds as if they really care about our children. What they care about is getting elected and they use our concern for our children to bait us into voting for them. Before I go any further, I have tremendous respect for good teachers. A good teacher deserves recognition in the form of higher compensation and acknowledgement of their teaching abilities. Unfortunately, since teachers were allowed to unionize, test scores have fallen and much of our younger generation are not learning.

Education is defined as: the process of giving systematic instruction. When I went to school, we learned reading, spelling, mathematics, later came grammar, history, and geography. Because I went to a parochial school, the day started with a prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Our classroom was not chaotic and our teachers were dedicated. I do not need ‘spell check’ to compose a letter. I do not need a calculator to compute a 20% tip. No one tells me what to believe because I learned how to think and how to reason as a result of those dedicated teachers.

Learning is: the acquisition of knowledge or skills. In my humble opinion, learning is a lifelong process. The misconception today is that, if you attend school from your earliest days through college graduation, you will have become learned. That is blatantly false. A college education will add some letters after your name, it does not mean that you have automatically been imbued with common sense. Education in America has been dumbed down. Our children are not being taught the rich history of America, proper grammar, long division and fractions; instead they are allowed to bring calculators into the classroom for math and what student doesn’t have a cell phone capable of spell checking or sharing answers with a friend. Students no longer read the classics, their curriculum encourages them to read books about sex and rape. Their so-called education teaches them about abortion and their rights as a citizen, never mind the fact that they are minors, oh, and forget about your parents’ rights. Then the teachers wonder why the students are out of control. Well, DUH, you taught them that they have rights and do not have to listen to authority.

There is a segment of the student population who strive to understand everything. They may or may not have a college degree but they never stop learning. Kudos to them. They are the Einsteins of tomorrow. That curiosity to learn cannot be bought; and all of the money in the world cannot educate those who refuse to learn. A good teacher can and should be an inspiration; generally you will find them in schools which are not unionized.

When a politician speaks about education, he means that he wants the backing of the teachers’ union and will favor them when he is elected. That money does not mean better teachers, it means greedier teachers who will go on strike if their demands are not met. They will bring children out of the classroom to propagandize on their behalf. Does that sound like dedication to you? To me it sounds more like extortion.

America’s justice system has become a three ring circus with Eric Holder as the ringmaster. He performs in each ring according to his audience. To the general uninvolved public, in the first ring,  he appears to be the epitome of jurisprudence. He challenges state laws and refers to “the law of the land” as rebuttal. He is quick to assert himself into any situation that might be considered a grey area, often corrupting the meaning of the intended law. There is almost immediate retribution for an infraction committed by anyone who is not a person of color; while he defends and excuses the lawless actions of those who are people of color. Example: Black Panther intimidation near a polling place in Philadelphia, dismissed. I could go on but this should give you a general picture. He seems to think that it is HIS decision which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. That does not sound like equal justice and representation to me.

In the second ring, an audience filled with people of color, he whines about inequality, adding himself and the president to those who feel disenfranchised. The truth is that neither he nor the president are descendants of those whose ancestors were American slaves. The president is half white but decided his white heritage would reduce his chances of success. They have chosen to take perverse advantage of people of color in order to advance their personal ideals. How sad that the two highest ranking people of color prefer to keep their devotees under their thumb so they can enrich themselves. Both the president and the Attorney General should be touting the benefits of learning, as a means to lift oneself out of poverty. Instead, they use their bully pulpit to extract sympathy and work the crowds into a divisive frenzy. Where they should set an example of Americans united; they further divide the masses and cast aspersions on any whose opinion differs. An opposing point of view is not met with a discussion of each side’s reasoning, it is met with an accusation of racial bias. This may be an approach used by the unschooled; however, the educated person who uses such an approach is most definitely attempting to incite a riot. Divided we fall.

The third ring is filled with smoke and mirrors. It is not likely that anyone will know what is inside of that ring until some future date. This Attorney General, the first ever in American history to be held in contempt of Congress, prevails by delaying requested data, claiming ignorance of the facts, (although he is quite intelligent) and alluding to the information as being a security risk thus redacting almost every word of any documents he has presented. Quite an about face from the whining search for sympathy he displayed in ring number two.

“Fast and Furious”, “Benghazi”, “I.R.S.”, and “S.E.C.” inquiries and litigations  will undoubtedly go on ad infinitum. The lawsuits being filed as a result of his violations of our Constitutional rights will insure his job security forever; and, since they were the result of his actions as Attorney General of the United States, the legal proceedings will most likely be at the expense and burden of the American taxpayer.

Since the birth of our nation, people have emigrated to its land because of the freedom it offers. They have come from all parts of the globe to escape every kind of oppression. They have come to begin anew. They have come to fulfill their hopes and dreams. The legacy of this current president and his administration will have changed their dreams into nightmares. The freedom of America is being supplanted by the ideals of extremists. Unless Americans are brave enough to stand up for freedom, our children will suffer the same oppression that their ancestors tried so valiantly to escape. God help us!