Obama taxes - Here they come!

I have little patience for writing a piece about what should have been obvious to Americans during the elections - Obama coupled with a Democrat majority in Congress would spell unprecedented destruction of the American way of life through government intervention in our lives, our businesses, our culture, our place in the world order, and I believe our very freedom to pursue happiness as we see it. Where was our common sense? Did we think that 'change' automatically meant 'good change' or 'healthy change' or what?

Barak Obama was for many people an antidote to George Bush. People were weary of the war and felt deceived about the decision to attack Iraq. (Okay, that's understandable. I don't mean to discuss Bush here. He is not the threat to our future as a people and as a nation; Barak Obama is.) On top of the tensions over Iraq, the business cycle kicked-in, abetted by massive fraud and incompetence in the financial world, and the economy tanked. But all of this was not a reason to suspend reality and vote for 'change' - without understanding what that 'change' would be.

To make matters worse, we had John McCain as the Republican candidate - the alternative to Barak Obama. Was he ever a non-starter! He just didn't get it! He was a myopic, boring, somewhat hysterical candidate - not the right man for the job - not inspiring. But he was the lesser of two evils. He would have been less interventionist with respect to the economy and strong on defense (the latter being the real mission of a national government). Both of these would have been good. In short, McCain would have been the better choice. As uninspiring as he is, he would not have damaged us.

To the point. Obama said he would cut taxes for 95% of Americans. Most people thought that this meant a reduction in income taxes for 95% of Americans. But 95% of us do not pay income tax. (Mr. Obama would probably say that he meant income and payroll taxes.) Many of us are paid (get money) at income tax time - get it? - not taxed but given money. (And I am not talking about a refund of excess taxes paid.) So that means we are using the tax code more and more to spend money - that is, give money to people who do not pay taxes, people who did not earn that money. (An aside, how can people who only receive money from the government ever be expected to understand the responsibilities of paying for that government? Answer: They cannot!)

Then Mr. Obama began a spending spree that has no peace-time precedent. Understand, no peace-time precedent. You see: a war ends, and we can pay the debt. Perhaps the 'stimulus' spending will end and we can pay that debt, but what about the costs of health care reform and other social programs that will only expand? In the future we will have to pay for the war, and the continuing war and now hugely expensive new initiatives such as universal health care.

How will we pay for these? The answer is taxes and more taxes, overt and hidden. Watch your wallet; watch your bank account; watch.... Remember that $250,000 threshold? It has been lowered, and it will go lower. Middle class people will begin paying through income taxes and in other ways. Wake up, you are hearing it now - Cap and Trade, Value Added Tax (VAT), and more to come. These taxes will hit people hard, very hard. People of all incomes will pay these taxes. Of course, Obama and colleagues will try to buy the some of us by increasing payoffs through the 'earned income credit' in the income tax code. What do higher earned income credits mean to people who don't receive this give away? More taxes! We are in for it.

What can we do about this? Simple, ORGANIZE, FIGHT BACK! Let's kick the spenders out. The so-called tea parties were a start. The people who organized these (our real, responsible leaders) must use their precious time to create a vast network of responsible people who in turn must devote themselves to defeating the policies of tax and spend. If this does not happen, this nation will be forever changed, forever a nation strange to those who new it in its greatness. The burden will fall the hardest on those who are working the hardest, those who are shouldering the real responsibility for American success. That is a tough proposition, but it is necessary for these competent people to take the lead.

We must set aside the issues that divide us and work for a responsible government. Maybe it's not too late?