March 29, 2010

Sucking the Blood of the Ambitious

By Bob Weir

In 1819, John Marshall, the great Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote, "The power to tax involves the power to destroy." The eminent jurist was amazingly prescient when one considers that the comment was made about a hundred years before the federal income tax was imposed, a tax that became the precursor to a laundry list of tariffs that would insinuate themselves into the socioeconomic landscape of the country.

Nickel by nickel, dollar by dollar; the people have been subjected to the increasingly rapacious arm of state-sponsored income distribution. Whenever some government official or bureaucrat, who probably never worked in private industry, decides to expand the reach of the state, he proposes a tax hike. A business owner, who needs more revenue to expand or simply to continue operating, must create a marketing plan to improve sales or services. By using talent and creative ability to attract clients, the business will improve. You see, businesspeople can't simply force people to buy what they offer.

Not so in the freewheeling atmosphere of liberal orthodoxy. Any time one of those knee-jerk ideologues wants another "program" or another entitlement for those who don't contribute to the economy, he simply taxes the people who do contribute.

In the latest example of government's overreaching power and repudiation of the Constitution, Democrats have passed a bill that once again forces the productive to pay for the non-productive. We were told that 30 to 40 million people don't have, or don't want, health care insurance. Hence, they will now be forced to buy it against their will if they don't have it, or get it free if they can't afford it, in order to enable President Obama and Speaker Pelosi to construct a legacy for themselves. The predilections of the American people notwithstanding, these tyrannical glory-hounds have decided that public opinion is the least of their concerns.

The fact that workers are already paying about 50 percent of their earnings in taxes every year is of no interest to those who live by sucking the blood of the ambitious. Make no mistake about it: The government's hands just went even more deeply into our pockets. After all, what are the people going to do about it? If they refuse to pay, hit them with fines, take away their homes, or throw them in jail. Using the principle of strength in numbers, the state can pick off individual members of the populace without fear of serious resistance; gangs are stronger than loners. If you happen to be one of those bloodsuckers, you have nothing to fear because you have nothing for the government to take. However, that's why a concerned citizenry is an essential element of democracy; the voice of the people is more than a cliché.

All responsible citizens recognize the need for taxes to pay for services that provide security, infrastructure, school financing, etc. In addition, most people are decent enough to open their wallets a little wider when the need arises; Americans are the most generous people on earth. Yet they're the last people on earth you want to mess with if they feel like they are being treated unjustly. It is that spirit of righteousness, etched into our national genetic code by ancestors who struggled against tyranny, that sets us apart from the majority of the planet, most of whom genuflect obsequiously in the presence of their masters. That's not the American way!

There are many people in government who are mature enough to temper their authority with discretion and fairness toward those who allow them to (temporarily) wield that power. But sometimes, such people need to be reminded that ultimately, all power in a democracy rests with the people. Those few who think that they sit on a throne, able to rule with an arrogant disregard for their fellow citizens, should be quickly disabused of that notion.

It is this very spirit that has made the Tea Party movement a magnet for Americans who have become incensed at the level of arrogance being evinced by the Obama administration and those Democrats who have abandoned any concept of integrity in order to become slavishly devoted to "his highness." Repudiating their constituents, renegade Democrats have given the middle finger to the people who pay their salaries, their very generous health plans, and their stunningly generous pensions. Thanks to the Tea Party patriots and millions of other freedom-loving Americans from sea to shining sea, this recent move toward an ever-expanding socialist state will be dutifully and publicly addressed in the November election. As Justice Brandeis, another sagacious member of the Supreme Court, once said, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."

Bob Weir is a former detective sergeant in the New York City Police Department. He is the executive editor of The News Connection in Highland Village, Texas. E-mail Bob.