Tag: Taxation

No Longer Slaves

Working for “the man” is changing in the coming few years. How? Well, consider how closely special interests and corporations have been working with the federal government over the past decade or two. Lobbying is a true art, and those doing the lobbying on behalf of a company or industry have often also once worked in government. The art of the “steal” has been working against employees and small businesses yet benefiting corporate America. Congress has known this and now Congress can take meaningful steps to turn this cronyism around.

Who better to initiate this change than the great deal maker himself, DJT. Our next president is poised to help working men and women in a way that a government program never could. To route out federal regulations that over burden businesses the next president must himself have a strong staff and reliable Congress committed to excellence and hard work. Lowering our tax burden and inflation won’t be easy because the taxation machine has been growing for far too long. Negotiated deals with Congress will have to emphasize the positive impact their votes will have on the constituents, WE THE PEOPLE.

For too long WE THE PEOPLE have been slaves to a governmental system that pits us against each other in order to remove our focus on their power. Why should WE THE PEOPLE be angry and frightened of our political differences? We don’t need to be, you see, because it’s only one of the “whips” that the system uses to maintain power. And, like an overseer who controls the slave, the Congress has allowed a bureaucracy to control the taxpayer by forcing continuing resolutions as another “whip”.

“A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.”

– Aldous Huxley, in the Foreword to Brave NewWorld

What is a continuing resolution (CR)? A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year. CR’s typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year’s funding, always growing and never slowing. This will generally happen when Congress and the President fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, and this is the problem. Congress MUST get back into the habit of annually questioning the spending of each department which then adequately provides them a cost/benefit analysis…This process should not be partisan yet it has become such. Working together with the best interests of their constituents, not the interests of federal departments or lobbying corporations MUST be Congress’ goal.

But what about all the profits that the business sector makes? They should be paying their “fair share” in taxes to the programs people need! Spoiler alert…They already do. Businesses exist because of consumer demand. A business grows because of the demand. More employees and better equipment must be acquired in order to meet this demand which is where much of the profit comes from, but profits must also be sheltered in order to meet hard times when they happen. No one can really anticipate the impact of a natural disaster or a pandemic on business activity. Insurance and/or FEMA never act quickly enough, but a business’s profits in a bank account can be accessed easily. Federal safety net programs (like FEMA, HHS, SSI) don’t make money, they only spend your tax money.

But what about greed? Corporations are too greedy and can’t be trusted to pay their employees well enough to live in these inflationary times. This is only partially true. The biggest reason why workers can’t afford inflation is because the federal government (which doesn’t actually make money from their services) has to print their money thereby creating inflation…One more “whip” that keeps us in check!The Shrew believes that the next two years will show us how greedy the federal government has been and how letting you keep more of your money actually makes you more free and less dependent on them.

Free to create more value, free to spend on your needs and free to help those you know who need your blessed contributions. We all shall be slaves no more!

The Representative Power Play

Our government seems to be conditioning its citizens into believing that those who were elected to represent them are actually working on their behalf. I’m not talking about how the government “gets things done”. Those “things” are probably not at all needed by the citizens of a Liberty-minded nation. Every one of those “things” must be measured within the context of the Constitution and existing law…Capitol Hill’s charter. I’m talking about how the government enriches itself by using its power to manipulate legislation according to the demands of the corporate donor class.

Think about this, President Trump was very successful growing the economy and building workable treaties and agreements with and among nations. Most of his actions were challenged in the courts and this was fine…It’s one method of checks and balance in our system. When the economy grew, jobs were available, innovation was allowed to thrive, the tax base expanded and our CO2 emissions actually went down. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/greenhouse-gas-emissions-continue-decline-american-economy-flourishes-under-trump-0 … And, try as hard as they might, Congress was unable to remove a President that understood the underbelly of the corporate donor class. Trump was elected by we the people to represent middle class America and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Well, what does an elected ruling class like Congress do when their perceived power is interrupted by a successful President? Everything in their power of course. We saw this play out in almost every format available to these corporate brown nosers when mainstream media colluded by disseminating misinformation, social media canceled opposing opinions and a multitude of “crises” overwhelmed traditional systems.

Representative influence…One heaping pile 💩

Build Back Better is nothing but a Biden Administration term for corporate cronyism. His decades of time spent on Capitol Hill makes him a certified corporate brown noser. His track record of helping credit card companies over consumers’ best interests shows how compassionate he is to corporate banks which now under the global economy will impose ESG scores on businesses that don’t comply with new global “norms”… https://www.alva-group.com/blog/what-is-an-esg-score-and-how-is-it-calculated/ Free markets will be demolished.

It’s time for voters to take a serious and honest look at how their representatives (Nationally and locally) have used their power, understand that both political parties have abused their power, look closely at their records and listen to how they answer tough questions. What do they consider a real crisis and how do they plan to fix it? Does the plan focus on actionable measures with clearly defined results? Is there precedence to learn from before enacting such measures? Voters must focus on policies and not personalities…Anyone can seem like a nice person or be rough around the edges, but what are their results?

A government that isn’t willing to self reflect on their own abuses is not a government of, by and for the people. The commander in chief must hold their justice department accountable to those who are not in power and investigate the federal agencies; agencies that spend more and more taxpayer dollars to undermine taxpayer rights.

I’m waiting patiently for Congress to get a grip on themselves. This will only come when we the people elect representation that respects the rights of the individual and the entrepreneur. Anything else is cronyism and self serving.

Shrewd Awakenings: On Representative Government

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In a Representative Democracy the people elect officials to represent them when creating laws and policies.  It burns me when I hear people leave out the “representative” part of our type of Federal Governance system.  It makes a very big difference in our core principle of government by, of and for the people.  Our Founders knew that if the Federal Government became a monolith then it had to be a system of many voices.  One person, one vote is not enough to counter tyrannical behavior from a perceived majority.  States, counties, towns, neighborhoods, on down to the individual…All have special needs and wants and all must have a way to ensure happiness at home where the responsible individual is productive in his or her own right.

I served a two year term as a City Councilor representing one of seven wards in a nonpartisan capacity.  Several things motivated me to run for this seat:

  1. The property tax rate in my city rose 18% in one year.  I witnessed the complete awe in my neighbor’s faces and we all wondered how such an oversight could have happened.
  2. I became involved in a bipartisan civic group that challenged this increase and we learned quite a bit about the proper functions as well as the dysfunctions of our city government.
  3. Having served as president of other organizational boards as well as chaired numerous church and civic committees, I was very familiar with democratic processes, never missing an opportunity to also participate in strategic planning workshops and community forums.
  4. With my children grown and my business running smoothly I had the flexibility to contribute my time to City Council demands.
  5. I wanted to be part of the solution instead of whining about the problem.  As they say, whiners never prosper.  Life long learners need apply!

As a councilor I then became more aware of how dysfunction at the governance level had occurred:

  1. Previous councilors who had my seat were not proactive about getting to know their ward constituents and businesses.  Communication was not a priority and therefor transparency was lacking.  It was no wonder that citizen apathy had set in.
  2. The long standing councilors had not read their governing manual which I discovered was outdated and in need of many revisions.  Had the Council been more educated about their powers, perhaps the City Administrator would not have been allowed to cross certain ethical boundaries (which he had done many times in my presence).  Council duty #1…Administrations always need to be held accountable!
  3. The “conservative” councilors who continually voted no to any type of spending also had no ideas about how to control spending, creatively raise revenue or educate themselves on our many cash reserves and how they could be used, nor did they ever probe the City Administrator about his ideas for raising revenues beyond direct taxation.  Our commercial base had become so small that the tax burden was placed significantly on home owners.
  4. All previous Councils blindly left their faith in city operations to a City Administrator who did not have an annual review process by the Mayor and Council.  This was another aspect of how the Council did not understand their power…Perhaps this was intended by the Administrator?
  5. Because of #4, this left a power vacuum.  The Mayor’s role became more controlling which set the Ward representatives up for political gamesmanship and subsequent dysfunction.  Please tell me how this works for constituents?

How many other cities are run like this and is it no wonder that Washington DC is in a similar mess?  Representative government only works when those who are elected know their functions within the governmental system.  This education begins at home as well as in our schools.  Communication and transparency are critical to having an engaged public.  When we elect representatives we must be confident that they understand their roles and responsibilities otherwise we can wind up with a vacuum of leadership ripe for dysfunction and control.  Is the United States headed in this direction?  Here are some of my observations:

  1. Congress seems oblivious to their responsibilities.  They are allowing the State’s to slowly undo federal laws and the Administrative branch to spy on its citizens.  Where is their oversight?
  2. Presidents can be too loyal to special interests.  Whether because of donor cash or partisan concerns, Constitutional protections for the nation as a whole are ignored by a passive Congress. 
  3. The press is complicit in political gamesmanship.  Reporting has become less factual and more based on hearsay and emotions which tend to keep the more astute public frustrated and disengaged…A sure way to continue apathy amoung certain voters.
  4. Civil protections are being reframed as special protections.  A public that is divided into categories conveniently focuses attention away from core values that unite people.  These core values are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  Forgetting this principle allows the Constitution to be rendered ineffective and useless thereby creating a vacuum for tyrannical control.

In conclusion, I recommend that we must start to reframe “special protections” in a way that connotes faithful service to others.  Government cannot solve social issues.  Faith and service based organizations must do this work along side of their communities.  This is the real meaning of church and state separation.  How can we strengthen this very important message?  I will explore this in my next blog…