Plunder

There is a very effective strategy that some use when they can’t hold a position on facts and merit, which is to confuse the argument. Such as, when citizens speak out about the very real problems of illegal immigration, the argument is twisted to brand them as anti-immigrant. When one points out how massive and abused the welfare state that we have created has become, then they simply want struggling people to starve. If you state that the Affordable Care Act is unsustainable and is already raising premiums, then you just want old people to get sick and die. And, when an attempt is made to pull back the reins on taxes, well of course that’s just because you don’t want to pay for roads, bridges and education. (Didn’t we have a stimulus of almost a trillion dollars that was sold to us as infrastructure spending in 2009?)
Deficits of $16 trillion are not taxes that future generations will be paying for the “community good.” Borrowing over 40 cents on every dollar is not a tax that future generations will be paying for the “community good.” If you have children or grandchildren, that is not hyperbole. That is real money that they now owe throughout their lives, being paid with dollars that will be worth less through no fault of their own. But, it’s for the “community good.” The above mentioned stimulus, that has been part of the budget every year since 2009, the one that never really went to infrastructure after all, is taxation for the “community good.” Isn’t there an NSA facility in Utah that is storing bits of all our electronic communications, that is being built by way of taxation for the “community good?” This past week we heard that the Immigration Reform Bill appropriates 100 million dollars for a Las Vegas advertising campaign. Is that taxation for the community good? I suppose it is, if the community is the hotel/casino owners in Vegas.
Your neighbors have no aversion to taxation, but they realize that they have paid many times over for the roads, bridges and education, and will continue to do so. And when that money is misused, as it is time and again, there is always someone waiting to demand more. And the same implication is always made, “Surely you want to pay for roads and bridges… and the children of course.”
Deficits of $16 trillion do not come from roads and bridges. It is a result of apathetic entitled citizens, frivolous use of our military, foreign aid to allies and enemies alike, and poor leadership with pet projects over several decades at the local, state and federal level. And we are to blame along with both political parties.
I would never be so arrogant, to insult our neighbors by telling them what they should do with the 10 dollars in their pocket, which they themselves have earned. Or, by stating that they are shirking their responsibilities, don’t care about the community good and are not taxed enough. Do you know the state of your neighbor’s finances?
It’s ironic that in the same issue of the Fluvanna Review where this letter was published, there’s an article about one of our neighbor’s that is using his own time and resources to collect money for disabled veterans. Unfortunately, many have become too comfortable telling a government official to go take someone else’s money to fix what ails us. That is not taxation, it’s plunder.
Instead of demanding that your elected officials take more from your neighbors, you should demand that those elected officials respect the rewards of your neighbor’s labor. Until that time comes, and whether or not it is a political ploy, maybe the least you can do is search your own pockets for a “voluntary tax contribution”.