FOGLIFTING

CONGRESS: "AVERAGE TAXPAYER IS GOOD FOR $78.30 A YEAR"

"What would I do without health insurance?" says Anna Velazquez, 39, who works at a health center. "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, worrying about my kids."  Most of us want to help out the unfortunate.  Cries like this are pitiful, whether they are coming from Americans or starving The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was started to help out the unfortunate - who are fortunate enough to call themselves Americans.  The Average Taxpayer has chipped in $32.60 per year ($5 billion) to help these people, and our congressmen decided last week

WHAT HILLARY WON'T TELL YOU

Her healthcare plan will cost the average taxpayer an extra $718 per year (the average taxpayer's share of the $110 billion total cost).   She says taxes will only be raised another $340 (your piece of $52 billion).  Yippee!

You already pay roughly $10,000 per year (your share of the $1.53 trillion) in taxes for medicare, medicaid and social security.  That's on top of the $3900 you pay for national defense.  She believes you don't pay enough.  I beg to differ.  You make the decision.

She's not quite Sally "for-just-pennies-a-day" Struthers.   Is she.

LOOK 'EM IN THE EYE WHEN YOU SAY THAT

In Forbes "Comments", Kristina Rasmussen, National Taxpayers Union writes

Moving Tax Filing Day closer to Election Day would underscore the connection between policy outcomes and political decisions, and it offers taxpayer advocates an additional structural approach to tax reform. The federal government may try to influence our behavior through the benefits and penalties woven into the Tax Code, but it is high time voters influence government's behavior by changing tax bill due dates. "Voting your pocketbook" could take on a whole other meaning.

What greater advance to our national prosperity than to vote simplification into our tax code and demanding justification for the money being spent in Washington? 

LET THEM BEE

In the September 17 Forbes, Paul Johnson painted an interesting picture of the beauty of Capitalism.

"Early socialists [especially Lenin] drew inspiration from the bees and their hives for being warriors as well as workers."

However, "Nests and hives have existed for tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of years--and are still the Original Model. Nothing has changed since Aristotle analyzed the activities of ants and Virgil wrote so charmingly of bees. But in the meantime mankind has multiplied, lives three times as long, is bigger and healthier, has turned the luxuries of the rich into the ordinary necessities of the poor, has conquered the planet and is now reaching for the stars.

What is the difference that makes ants and bees engage in endless repetition, remaining static, while humanity relentlessly changes and advances?"

The obvious difference is Individualism.  It is unnatural for humans to mindlessly accept society or life as they find it.  A capitalist system doesn't create this force.  However, capitalists believe in creating the a supporting legal system, then letting people roam freely within those bounds.  Capitalists unleash mankind's creative force by giving individuals the opportunity to start a business and pursuing their unique dreams without being "bullied into conformity."

"All they ask for is the huge, echoing silence of government inactivity."

For more information on who can't stand this, a great read is Virginia Postrel's "The Future and Its Enemies."

PITHY QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Ask the American Indians what they think about illegal immigrants..." - Anonymous