FREE AT LAST?

The history of this nation and its present state answer some very old questions. What is the cost of liberty? How can freedom prosper under government regulation? Can a citizen alter or abolish the system of control placed over him? The successes and strides that America has made over the years seem to give us clues to the answers. However, there seems to be a turning point in our philosophy as a people in the past few years. The word cost is meaningless in our national discourse as it seems to be pointless when compared to results. Freedom is not sought by those in power who instead use governmental agencies to regulate equality of outcome regardless of input. Citizens do not seek to alter their government but want to profit from its excess. The idea of a permeating “entitlement mentality” has been met with skepticism however has proven to be a depressingly growing trend of late. 48.5% of American households now receive a type of government assistance. Almost as many as pay into the tax system. Those households receive more from the government than is sent in as income tax. A record number of Americans are admitted into the rolls of the Food Stamp program and their situation is celebrated. At the same time there is no indication from those in Washington that there is a fix to the problem. We are more than willing to extend the unemployment payouts yet unwilling to solve the underlying economic problems causing the unemployment. Our debt is ballooning much faster than it ever has and spending cuts are treated as an attack on U.S. citizens. A bipartisan budget presented by Representative Paul Ryan was passed by the House that balanced the budget by the year 2040. It will not even be debated by the Senate and it has been called by the President, “thinly veiled Social Darwinism”, among other things.

It is ignored however, that leaving our spending process uninterrupted will never balance the budget and will spend us into ever increasing debt that at some point will become unacceptable. The welfare spending has grown beyond our ability to pay and compromises the largest portion of our budget. In addition to growing government welfare we see the disastrous effects of a government that is too large to police or hold accountable. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma has made a practice of cataloging wasteful government expenditures, last month saw the arrests for the largest Medicare fraud in our history, and last week saw the maddening actions of the GSA come to light and the arrogance of its employees. These are a few examples of the rampant irresponsibility of those in Washington with our money. However, instead of a comprehensive review and elimination of government agencies, our government is about to hand the IRS the ability to stop tax delinquents from leaving the country. The government is not interested with responsible stewardship but the acquisition of power. Many of these issues would not be so frustrating if it were not for the fact that these actions are taken with our money.

Many of you are finishing or have finished your taxes for the year. This brief time spent recalculating the government’s work to see if they have removed enough from your paychecks these last twelve months could be given to more prosperous activities. The money spent double checking the government’s work should be devoted toward more successful endeavors. The outcome of such work will always be less than helpful. If you find yourself having to pay an additional amount it is an infuriating extra tax unsuspected and if you find there is no change the whole effort was in vain costing time and money to no end. Even if you receive money back it is only proof that your paycheck was plundered over the past year. In fact it is this confiscatory system of taxation that lies at the heart of the problem. The Tax Foundation released last week this year’s Tax Freedom Day. They measured the day at April 17. The first four months and seventeen days of the year are spent not in our own employ, not working for ourselves but to meet this ever growing government desire for money. Tax Freedom Day highlights the growing issue with this confiscatory system. Over one-third of our year is spent in the employ of the government, paying the increasing costs of a runaway budget with zero accountability. We have to do the work our government cannot to ensure we are paying “our fair share” yet the ones we pay refuse even the most basic accountability requirements. There is no budget, there is no accountability, and there is no desire to alter or renovate the system to repair it. We have heard of enterprises described as “too big to fail”, (the same overriding idea behind the Titanic) but what we are watching is an organization that is too cumbersome and unwieldy to succeed. We have reached the point where serious reform is a necessity. We realize that government cannot spend its way out of this mess; the effect is disastrous on our debt. We must grow our economy, and to do that we cannot have a system that confiscates the first four and a half months of our income per year.

Our founding proved that the cost of freedom is action and vigilance. It saw the removal of an oppressive and top-down system that led a flourishing nation to become a world power at break neck speed. It was accomplished through the actions of dedicated citizens willing to donate their time, their money, their careers, their efforts toward the goal of freedom. We have a long way to go to restore those lofty aspirations among our leaders. Some we must replace, others we must convince. All the while there is a growing belief that our society is too much changed. Some have given up hope in our future. Younger generations are given little to no confidence. Yet what can we expect without positive influence. It is true that there is substantial work to be done. Our first efforts are correctly directed at the removal of this disastrous income tax system and the implementation of the FairTax. It places the power directly into the hands of citizens and removes the opacity of a growing bureaucracy tainted with lobbyist influence. If there is hope for the future it is found within this movement. It is found in every volunteer and activist. It is found in any person willing to speak out against a top-down system of control. Tax relief and reform are hot-button issues receiving much more attention than is usually given to them. The iron is hot meaning our time to strike is now. There is no more perfect time to get involved. There are very few outcomes that one can predict with 100% accuracy. I can assure you that no change will come without effort by individuals. The conditions will not mold themselves to our preferences. This victory will have to be won from the ground. It requires your action. It requires your time. It requires your voice. John Adams said in 1818. “The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. … This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.” Do we not sense this now? The FairTax movement describes such a change. Let us act so that the revolution precedes the war and that the battle is won before it begins.

To read more check www.fairtaxcometh.com