The View From the Leftist Fringe

Got the following chain mail today. Don't worry, my ice-chilled revenge is being plotted as we speak. But, it also popped up as I was trawling through the comments at the Freep. And, since this seems to be a common sentiment amongst some of the more blue collar people I talk to, let me just rebut the following.

At first I thought this was funny...then I realized the awful truth of it.
Be sure to read all the way to the end!

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his a..

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin ,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
upon his tomb,
' Taxes drove me to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world,

and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What has happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to 'press 1' for English.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times.

A lie can get around the nation about a hundred times before the truth gets its pants on, I suppose, but this is blatantly false.

One hundred years ago was 1908. America was a backwater. On the rise, but second rate compared with the economies and cultures of mainland Europe. It took the massive self-inflicted bloodletting of the first World War which cost a generation of the continent's potential leaders and thinkers to change that. And on the American side of things, it took the massive federalization of services and regulation, on both state and national levels, funded by those taxes to create the infrastructure needed to become the Arsenal of Democracy. Oh, and a massive wave of dirty, swarthy foreigners from the more impoverished Southern and Eastern Europe – your poles, your Eye-ties, your slavs, with their strange ways and filthy languages (Did you know, in the ghettos and tenements they were forced into, they even started their own newspapers, the mass communication medium of the time? The nerve!) as a source of cheap labor.

You want to cut taxes then get used to having more cities lost to the seas. Get used to never knowing if that bridge you're driving over is about to collapse. Get used to lead paint in your children's toys and antifreeze in your toothpaste. We live in an interconnected society where we're all better off by pooling our resources and unless you're some kind of libertarian smacktard the best way of doing that is a system of taxation. Government isn't inherently bad. Poorly run ones are. Because the problem with taxes isn't that we have them, it's that those necessary funds are mispent. It's the flaws, the inefficiencies in the system that we need to stamp out. Because that's going to benefit everyone more than a few extra dollars in their pockets.