What is it about politicians and rich person that makes them think they don’t have to pay taxes? Not only do they not have to pay taxes but they also do not expect that to be an impediment to continuing to work in the government. In many of their minds all it takes is a sincere public apology and a plausible deniability of culpability and its back to business as usual. While many will argue that the tax problems of some of President Obama’s appointee’s are mild compared to some other President’s recent picks, but is that really the issue? President Obama campaigned on bringing change to Washington that requires actually changing things for that to be a reality.
While I agree with many that Mr. Daschle was a unique pick to head HHS and brings a lot of intangibles that would have helped to get Universal healthcare passed against many intransigent elements but at what cost? Do we believe that he was the only person who could understand and have the experience to get it done? I don’t think so. I believe that there are others who may not be tainted by Washington who can be just as effective. The key for this administration going forward is that it’s not enough to talk change. There are many who have already begun to question how change is possible with so many Washington insiders in the administration. I understand that given the depth of the crisis’ we face as a nation and with the President promising swift action it was important to have as many experienced people as possible to get off to a quick start but the President cannot overestimate his hand. There are forces in Washington and not just Republicans that are not in a hurry to see the Washington system dismantled.
It appears to me based on interviews and the continual reports of Wall Street bonuses despite their horrific performance that what is happening today is so ingrained and systemic that many of these people do not even believe they have done anything wrong. It is amazing to me how often we here the elite class speaking of the lack of responsibility of the poor and their “sense of entitlement” and yet what is rarely reported until recently is the “sense of privilege” by the wealthy. What bothers me the most is the lack of outrage by the American public when the wealthy class and their apologists say publically that they are entitled to these outlandish perks as incentive for doing their jobs. You are telling me that a person who is already earning millions of dollars in salaries and benefits needs more millions of dollars to do their job. And that if they don’t get it they will quit and there will be some sort of brain drain in corporate America? My feeling is with the great job that they have done in tanking our economy so what if they leave whoever replaces them certainly can’t do any worse.
The problem in America is that there is such a negative connotation connected to paying taxes that very few people are angry with those who have found a way to pay little if any taxes. It seems that many believe that when they are able they too will find away to skirt their obligations. Many people who are not wealthy risk penalties, fines, and jail in an effort to not pay their fair share. It reminds me of “so-called” Christians who refuse to provide charity which is a duty of all Christians and yet pretend to be pious. We need to reform our tax codes and create a flat tax rate for everyone regardless of income or position. We remove all deductions and exemptions and everyone pays a flat percentage of income. While no one including me wants to pay taxes in a communal society it is a necessity. Instead of seeing paying taxes as a burden it should be treated as one’s patriotic duty to maintain our society and way of life.
Why do we pay taxes? We pay taxes so that our governments can provide services that we cannot provide for ourselves. The problem is that we all have things that we don’t think the government should be using our tax dollars for and I understand that. However that does not preclude us from having to pay taxes. There is a cost to be a part of a society and unfortunately taxes is a part of that cost. We cannot have the bulk of those taxes being paid by the hardest working people who don’t have tax attorneys and CPAs to hide income and create phony tax shelters. Why is it that those with the most want to pay the least? There are too many wealthy people who believe that paying taxes is optional or only for the little guy. The middle-class in America has been sold this mistaken idea that whatever is good for the wealthy is good for them. We ignore their excesses and greed. We accept their contempt for our society and their utter lack of empathy for anyone but themselves.
The time has come for all of us to step up and pay our fair share. We must no longer accept that there are those above the law and above paying taxes. We must make our tax laws fairer, simpler, and more enforceable. We must enforce our corporate taxes and not as the Republicans suggest reduce them. If we were able to collect just half of what is owed the government by corporations and the wealthy our national debt would be reduced considerably. We must make those who intentionally avoid paying their taxes pay a heavy toll, because they are after all stealing from all of us.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes
Monday, October 22, 2007
Where’s The Beef
Lou Dobbs, the anchor of Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, has sometimes expressed views I support, the US flag in the lapel flap is not one of them. According to Mr. Dobbs he began to wear his flag pin following the 9/11 attacks to show respect for those killed and support for the “war on Islamist extremists”. I have never understood why some people feel it is necessary to display these symbols of nationality inside the country. I understand national pride and support displaying the flag in front of government buildings or national shrines, I understand displaying it on certain holidays, but to display it on your lapel seems a bit over the top. The problem I have with it is that it seems unnecessary and has been co-opted by forces that I choose not to associate myself with.
Why must I display an American flag inside of America? Is there the possibility that I am going to wake up someday and not know I am in America and will require a vision of a flag to reacquaint me? That I could mistake my Midwestern home for Germany? If you have fought for the flag in conflict, then you have every right to display that flag anytime, anyplace. The problem is that most of those with flag lapel pins did not fight for the flag when given the opportunity, wearing the flag provides them with some false patriotism that assuages their guilt for not being willing to fight for the flag they now cherish so deeply. Based on his bio, Mr. Dobbs would have had an option to fight for his flag in Vietnam. I do not find any record of military service in his background.
I find Mr. Dobbs defense of his lapel pin and his critique of those who choose not to wear one to be naïve. He would have us to believe that the strength of one’s patriotism, character, and words cannot be measured compared to the symbolism of the American flag. So according to Mr. Dobbs the wearing or displaying of the American flag trumps one’s actions, using this logic you could be against everything the flag stands for but as long as you have one on your lapel or in your yard your patriotism goes unquestioned. It does not matter that you are hijacking the ideals and values of that symbol as long as you are displaying that symbol. You can torture, suspend the Constitution, and conduct warrantless searches against other Americans; by God but if you got your flag pin you’re alright.
Here is some of Mr. Dobbs logic.
Sen. Barack Obama put away his lapel flag pin. The senator says instead of a flag pin, his words will be a testament to his patriotism. I don't know what's wrong with the senator or why he can find any discomfort at all, but that's his right as an American. But any politician of any political party who believes their words can be an adequate substitute for the symbolic power of the American flag is sadly arrogant and horribly mistaken.
Several years ago PBS' Bill Moyers said the flag's "been hijacked and turned into a logo -- the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism." I respect Moyers and his work greatly, but he's simply, utterly wrong on this issue. The flag belongs to no group, to no party, to no special interest and to no corporation. Our flag is America's. And if journalists, by some tortured reasoning, believe the absence of the pin suggests neutrality and that gives them the pretense of objectivity, they couldn't be more wrong.[1]
I don’t understand how Mr. Dobbs can ignore the rhetoric that has engulfed the very nature of patriotism in this country by the wing-nuts. He ignores the accusations against decorated war heroes as being unpatriotic because they questioned the rationale for war. He ignores the “us versus them” propaganda being committed by the same people wrapping themselves in the flag to deflect criticism. For Mr. Dobbs to say these things are irrelevant is naïve at best and misleading at worse.
This whole flag pin flap is just more distraction from the real questions we should be asking. The question is not should we be wearing lapel pins or even do we support the troops. The real questions we should be asking is why are our civil liberties being taken away under the guise of security, or why isn’t the best way to support the troops is to bring them home? Saying someone supports the troops or the country is just empty rhetoric without being willing to question the direction of this country or the sacrifice of those troops.
You clowns can wear your lapel pins, those of us who truly support this country and the troops will continue to fight not for the America that was, or the America that is, but the America we have yet to become. The America we support is the one that truly believes in democracy and the rights of all people regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity. An America where equal opportunity is provided to all of its citizens and equal protection under the law is guaranteed. An America that is willing to provide healthcare, shelter for the poor, and a living wage for all.
Just because you sit in a chicken coop doesn’t make you a chicken and just because you wear a lapel pin does make you a patriot. Just as a chicken has to lay eggs to be a chicken, so a patriot has to do more than wear a flag. There are many in this country who want the sizzle, but where’s the beef?
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/09/dobbs.Oct10/index.html
Thursday, April 26, 2007
McCarthyism Is Alive And Well
Last night I watched the Bill Moyers Journal[1] entitled, “Buying The War”. What this administration did in the run up to the war was criminal. They bullied, coerced, and lied throughout the whole process. What the media did was worse than criminal, it was cowardly. It merely points out the need for all of us to remain vigilant, because we no longer have any one willing to question the party line. The overriding sentiment expressed by reporter after reporter was a pervasive fear that they would be cast as unpatriotic if they questioned the information being put out by the administration. Does this sound familiar?
The main thing that troubles me is what will prevent this from happening again? None of the reporters whose job it was to investigate these claims has expressed any remorse concerning their behavior. They continually made excuses why they acquiesce to these false claims. I applaud the few reporters that were willing to risk their White House dinner privileges to tell the truth. They included Jonathan Landay, Warren Strobel, and Bob Simon. The insanity of it is that these men did not have to conduct secret investigations to get at the truth; they just called and talked to the people who knew about the issues being reported. What a novel concept. While the mainstream press was calling pundits, these guys were calling the real experts who were telling a different story than the one being reported. If I were a “so-called” journalist I would feel ashamed, because do to their lack of courage we have men and women in Iraq who are dying. This is not some fluff story that “just got away” this ladies and gentlemen was about life and death and the carnage that has ensued. How these people get up every day and go to work is a mystery to me knowing that they have blood on their hands.
Once again, this proves that hype and hysteria still carries the day in America. Over and over we heard, “this is a post 9/11 world” to justify the lies and deceit. As if 9/11 gave this administration the license to suspend democracy, the free press, and personal freedoms. It’s funny we decry what Putin and others do, yet when a crisis arises here we do the exact same thing. Just because you say it isn’t the same thing, doesn’t make it different.
For those too young to remember, McCarthyism characterized some of the darkest days in American democracy. It was named after a Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, who through fear and intimidation made wild accusations and caused many people to be harmed in the name of democracy. It was during a time of fear of a communist plot to overthrow the government and infiltrators were considered to be everywhere.
McCarthyism is the term describing a period of intense anti-Communist suspicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. This period is also referred to as the Second Red Scare, and coincided with increased fears about Communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" later took on a more general meaning, not necessarily referring to the conduct of Joseph McCarthy alone.
During this time many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment. Most of these punishments came about through trial verdicts later overturned,[1] laws that would be declared unconstitutional,[2] dismissals for reasons later declared illegal[3] or actionable,[4] or extra-legal procedures that would come into general disrepute.
“Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence”. Call me crazy but didn’t we also have a case that was presented as fact based on inconclusive and questionable evidence? The former Secretary of State Colin Powell stated before the United Nations that we had “irrefutable proof” to back the claims for war. He detailed item after item of how Saddam Hussien was in violation and deserved to be toppled and Iraq invaded. Mr. Powell was sacrificed to sell this war. He had credibility that none of the others had. When Colin Powell said it, you could take it to the bank. This administration is gaining notoriety for providing human sacrifices. Mr. Powell today couldn’t sell umbrellas in Seattle.
The thing that frightens me the most is that all those hacks or pundits who sold this war to us and help to stroke the flames of unpatriotic fear are still employed. They are still making the rounds of the talk shows and their opinions are still being quoted. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We should be boycotting any shows that still parade these hacks as experts and let them know that their services will be no longer required. How can you now claim any objectivity or credibility after this debacle has been exposed? What this incident has shown was that politics trumped the people. It is a sad state of affairs when politics are more important than the nation itself. This policy continues to this day in the daily headlines concerning this administration.
Yes my friends, McCarthyism is alive and well and just like before it must be defeated and exposed for the malignancy on democracy that it is.
Stumble It!