Tom Mullen: ‘Words and Phrases To Avoid April 15’: Uncle Sam is Coming For You!

Source:USA Today- “Tax Day 2019 Coundown Calendar”

Source:The New Democrat

From Tom Mullen

“We hear a lot about words and phrases we should or shouldn’t use these days, politics having crept into virtually every area of our lives. At the risk of promoting even more political correctness, here are some terms that can legitimately be considered micro-aggressions when used in the presence of net taxpayers on April 15:”

The rest of Tom’s piece at Tom Mullen: 'Words and Phrases To Avoid on April 15'

I have a different take than Tom on this, ( who I’m friends with on Facebook and follow him on Twitter ) because I believe that to have a civilized, developed society you need some type of functioning, responsible, but limited government there to insure that. Not to run our lives for us, but protect us from predators foreign  and domestic and to perform our basic, but limited services like infrastructure. And for government whatever level it is to perform these necessary services, it needs revenue to do that. Government’s are financed through taxes,  at least when they’re run responsibly and when they’re not or their economy is going rough times they’re funded through borrowing. That’s just how government is able to operate regardless of the jurisdiction or country.

No one enjoys paying taxes, ( except honest Socialists ) but who enjoys paying for groceries or whatever else that we pay for? And the Libertarian is going to say that we don’t have a choice to pay for the government that we receive and don’t get to decide on what government services that we  receive: they’re just wrong on that since as Ronald Reagan once said people vote with their feet. We choose where we live and what level of government and taxation that we get based on where we live. We’re not forced to live in any country, state, county, or city. We make the decisions based on what we do for a living and our economic conditions and choose the best place for us to live based on these factors. If you don’t want to live somewhere where you have to pay taxes, move to a country where they don’t have a government, or at least a functioning government. I hear Haiti and Somalia are open for new residents everyday.

Now, where I believe Tom Mullen and I might agree hear and have somethings in common here ( he as a Libertarian and myself as a Liberal ) is having to deal with let’s say the opposite of people who are known as Anarcho-Libertarians, which of course are Socialists.

The only people anywhere in the world who pays taxes not just gladly and proudly, are Socialists.

The only people you’ll ever find filling out their taxes with smiles on their faces, are Socialists.

The only people you’ll ever find not just asking or demanding, but begging Uncle Sam and his nephews and nieces at the IRS for more taxes and higher taxes, are Socialists.

And I’m not talking about corrupt Socialist dictators who are some of the wealthiest people in the world, while half of their people or more have to beg for food and money in order to pay their bills. And I’m not talking about these so-called Hollywood Leftists who act like they hate wealth and capitalism, even though they personally enjoy being wealthy and have benefited greatly from capitalism. I’m talking about honest to goodness, ( to use a corny phrase ) down to earth, honest Socialists. Who when they have any extra money at all they always donate that money to their favorite charity like Uncle Sam or perhaps another charity, but who generally live simple lives. Who are very generous with their time and money.  ( Not someone else’s time and money )

These are the people who believe that tax day should be a holiday and always get together and celebrate tax day together with wine and cheese or coffee house coffee, listening to French poetry and folk music. Whatever you think of their politics, at least they’re honest about it, which is more than can say about most politicians. Especially the wealthy ones who are always calling for higher taxes on everyone else.

“Tax season is upon us, and it’s time to reconsider your politics… unless you don’t make six figures.”

Source:College Humor: 'Everyone is a Republican On Tax Day'- Is this the same Republican Party, that raises taxes on the middle class, because they believe the wealthy are overtaxed?

The Washington Post: Brian Lamb- 'Washington is Full of Waste and C-SPAN Lets Us Wallow In It'

Source:The Washington Post- If you're a taxpayer your message should be: "thank God for Brian Lamb and C-SPAN!"

"The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) broadcast from the House of Representatives for the first time in March 1979, uncovering a process shrouded in secrecy. C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb says how Americans use that transparency is still a work in progress. Read more:"

From The Washington Post

Source:News Daily- Some of our elected leaders 

When I think of C-SPAN, I think of the expression the cold hard truth, because that's what it gives us which is an inside, painfully truthful look about what our tax dollars are paying for and how our elected government works. 

People might argue ( especially career politicians ) that people would be better off not knowing about how our government works, because it just shows us how depressing and inefficient it works and all of that.

But the easy counter to that is that if you buy a car, you want to know exactly what you're getting with the money that you're spending on the car. The great handling, smooth ride, the power, but you also want to know about whatever drawbacks that you might get from that car. Low gas mileage, the durability of the car, etc. You don't want to know why your new car is in the shop once a month or a couple times of month, not six months down the road ( no pun intended ) but upfront before you buy the car.

Well, government is the same way. The U.S. Government which is the largest organization in the world both in money and in personal with a budget of over 4 trillion-dollars and a staff of over 2 million and since we're paying for all of that so-called service and a lot of waste we need to know exactly what we're paying for.

That's what the Government Accountability Office is for, but that's also what C-SPAN is for. Some might say that's the job of Congress to hold the government accountable. Two problems with that: one, Congress is part of the government ( hopefully that isn't any newsflash to U.S, Government students, or Millennial's ) and if it's Congress's job to hold the government accountable, then whose job is it to hold Congress accountable? 

And two, Congress is made up of politicians ( to state the obvious ) who in too many cases are just if not more interested in getting reelected and getting promoted, as they are in doing their jobs and the right thing. Because if they do their jobs and the right things, it could cost them votes and contributions with people who want the status-quo, because they benefit from the current corruption in government.

Some might say it's the job of the people to hold their government accountable. Which is true, but how are they supposed to do that without the information and facts: just listen and take the word of their politicians and automatically assume they're doing what's right and doing their jobs correctly? 

Does anyone who is sane, sober, intelligent, and aware of their surroundings actually tend to take the word of any politician that they're familiar with, actually take the word of a typical politician whether they're a career politician or not? Of course not. So we need those eyes and ears in our government and then we need the people to actually examine what they're seeing and take in the information that they get about how our government actually works in this country. Even if that means putting down their smartphone for more than five minutes at a time, or even hours at a time to see how their tax dollars are being spent in this country.

Some might argue who advocate for a closed government that the reason why politicians and government is so unpopular in America and why a 20% rating is actually good numbers for any Congress, ( "hey, if only 8-10 Americans think we're doing a bad job, we must being something right" ) is because we allow cameras in Congress both in the House and Senate and The White House briefing ( even if they're only once every 2 months now ) and we broadcast and cover our government meetings and get to hear from our public officials. And we get to hear about Congress not doing their jobs and not even passing their own budget and appropriations bills and in some cases both the House and Senate not even passing their own budget in their respective chambers. 

The argument for closed government makes the case for open government. (Even only accidentally) That just makes my point for be, because all C-SPAN and other news organizations do is show exactly what our politicians and other public officials are doing. What they're saying and how they voted and what they proposed and signed into law. Things that we wouldn't know about if we didn't allow cameras and reporters into government. 

The John Birch Society: 'Solution To Big Government'

Source: The John Birch Society- Who is this? 

"Happy 4th of July! Today we'll discuss how Article VI of the Constitution is the best solution to reign in unconstitutional big government.:

Source:The John Birch Society

Keep in mind, this video is from The John Birch Society, which is sort of like The National Enquirer or The Star when it comes to political and governmental news. Not exactly award winning when it comes to news, because they tend to be made of antigovernment Libertarians and Far-Right conspiratorial Nationalists, who believe the 9/11 attacks were made up or an inside job, the CIA murdered President John F. Kennedy, etc, not exactly people with a good deal of judgement and perhaps even honesty.

Source: Renew America- Big Government, in need of Weight Watchers 

Having said all of that the speaker in this video ( whoever she is ) did make some good points about big government and the solutions to big government. I don't agree with her that current makeup of the U.S. Government is unconstitutional, misplaced and at least in some areas doing too much and overwhelmed and doing things that should be left up to the states, sure! But that's different from being constitutional or unconstitutional.

Source: Tenth Amendment Center- No to big government 

If you want to get rid of big government, you should at least know what it is. And I know what you're thinking, that sounds like some crazy commonsense that anyone with half of a brain could understand. But the two words big and government get thrown out a lot by people who think they know what they mean together, but in a lot of cases don't know what big government is and believe in a form of big government themselves and perhaps aren't even aware of that. So, before you bash big government, make sure you know what you're bashing. Which sounds as crazy as making sure your parachute works before you jump out of an airplane 20,000 feet in the air. But try it and you might see the benefits from that of actually knowing what you're talking about before you actually talk about it.

Source: Freedom and Prosperity- Say no to big government 

According to Wikipedia

"Big government is a term used to describe a government or public sector that is excessively large and unconstitutionally involved in certain areas of public policy or the private sector. The term may also be used specifically in relation to government policies that attempt to regulate matters considered to be private or personal, such as private sexual behavior or individual food choices.[1] The term has also been used in the context of the United States to define a dominant federal government that seeks to control the authority of local institutions—an example being the overriding of state authority in favor of federal legislation.[2]"

Big government is not just government that's too big, because why is it too big in the first place, because it does too much and has too much authority in areas that should be left up to the states or localities, private sector, or involved in areas where it has no business being involved in, in the first place.

Like telling consensual adults who they can sleep it or live with.

Regulate how people communicate with each other because they're worried about people being offended.

Telling consensual adults who they can marry.

Or trying to prevent people from a certain religion from even entering the United States.

Telling people where they can get their health care and health insurance.

Taxing people to the point where it makes it hard for them to run their business or even pay their bills on their own, because their taxes are too damn high. ( Pun intended )

These are all examples of big government which is government either doing too much or being involved in areas where no level of government should be involved in the first place like being involved in free adults private affairs and lives.

So, now that we know what big government looks like let's then look at how we get it and can get more of it. The easy answer to that and something that a layman might say would be that big government comes from our politicians and the government itself. Well, that would be partially true, but that would be like saying food comes from the grocery stores, but without farms growing and producing the food that we eat, the grocery stores wouldn't have food to sell at all.

Big government doesn't come from our politicians and government officials, but where do they come from? To paraphrase the great political satirist George Carlin, they didn't just suddenly appear from Mars or the Moon, they came from the communities and states that elected them. In order words big government comes from the people who vote for the politicians who support big government and then back it while they're in office. If a solid majority of people in a community, state or country wants big government, then that's exactly what the people will get in a representative democracy, at least until it gets thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.

So, if you don't like big government and don't want it, I have another commonsense solution for you which might give you more reason to believe that I'm not only crazy but have my very own mental institution or at least ward that was built just for me and others who also believe in commonsense. If you don't want or like big government, don't support it, don't vote for it, and campaign against it. Know the people you're considering for public office before you actually vote for them. ( Another commonsense solution )

No more blind voting and vote for people that share your political and national values, instead of voting for people who you think sound cool or look hip. Vote for people who actually represent your values and if that means you believe in individual freedom and free choice and you do your homework, you're going to vote for people who believe in those things as well and against big government. And as a result you'll get less big government in the process.

Greg Hengler: Contessa Brewer- Interviews Catherine Moleski: 'Britain's Free Healthcare'

 

Source:Greg Hengler- Catherine Moleski, talking about the United Kingdom's health care system.

 

"MSNBC Cheers Britain's Free Healthcare: It's Free For Tourists Too!"  

From Greg Hengler

Social Democrats and single payer health insurance and health care supporters would do themselves a huge favor and perhaps even risk building their support for their movement if they were simply accurate if not honest about how they say their system would be paid for and stop calling it free. 

There's no such thing as free anything that government provides. Even if they borrow the money to pay for some service they are giving their people, their people still pays for that in interest on the national debt. When you are spending other's people's money even for them, they are paying for the services that you give them.

Contessa Brewer who is not exactly a genius and generally does realty TV and technology related reporting and so-called human interest stories and not hard news, figured out pretty quickly that the U.K. NHS or National Health Service in Britain is not free and neither is their public health insurer that NHS also runs. It is paid for by British taxpayers and they pay for their own health care, just like Americans pay for there's. But Americans generally pay for their health care out of pocket or through their private health insurer. The British pays for their health care in taxes.

Show me free government services and I'll show you a beach house with an ocean view located in Minnesota. I would prefer however that you go first though, because producing a beach house with an ocean view in Minnesota would at the very least be a tall order. I would probably have better luck trying to swim from New York City to London, England. 

The whole Milton Friedman line about spending other people's money is perfectly appropriate here. Because money that government spends of behalf of its people or even at their expense, does not come from some Monopoly game.

Money that government spends for their people doesn't magically appear from thin-air or some genie wiggles their finger and it suddenly appears. Or they print counterfeit money, well I hope about the counterfeit part, because government does so many things in secret, who knows what they are doing. 

But we do know that we pay for whatever they're doing supposedly on our behalf through either taxes, fees or interest on the debt. Government services are as free as cable bills or smart phone bills. Meaning not at all and people who want a government that is big enough to manage our lives for us, need to acknowledge that, if they actually want to have the big government they talk about. 

You can also see this post at The Daily Post, on Blogger. (No pun intended)

Washington Times: Sodas, Cigarettes and the Nanny State

Source: The Washington Times-

Source:Washington Times

I'm against the nanny state as well because it implies that government or elitists in government know best how to manage individuals lives them the individuals themselves including people they do not know very well. That individuals are basically stupid and too dumb to decide for themselves what to eat, drink and manage their own personal affairs. And we have a long history of nanny state politics going to the Great Depression with alcohol prohibition and perhaps even further than that.

But what separates me from some on the Right who claim to be against big government and the nanny state until they are in favor of it. But then say "this is not big government, but good responsible government looking after the welfare of everyone" is that I'm against big government and the nanny state, period. I do not say I'm against it except when I'm in favor of it. I don't defend Americans right to drink or smoke, eat junk food why I'm telling Americans who they can sleep with. Or what music they can listen to, or what TV and movies they can watch.

To be against the nanny state you have to be against the nanny state. And that night sound like an obvious statement, but there are people both on the Right when it comes to alcohol, tobacco and junk food to use as examples who claim to be against the nanny state and looking after our individual freedom while at the same time are trying to ban homosexuality, or pornography or other forms of entertainment they personally do not approve of for the good of our general welfare.

There are three options when it comes to the nanny state.

1. You are in favor of it whether you are on the Right or Left.

2. You are against it whether you are on the Right or Left.

3. You are selectively in favor of it and against it whether you are on the Right or Left. You like the nanny state over here while you are against it over there.

But don't try to convince people of your opposition to big government and the nanny state on one hand while you are embracing it on the other hand.
The Young Turks: Ana Kasparian & Cenk Uygur- NYC Nanny State? Raising Cigarette Age To 21

Reason Magazine: Tax Day is Coming- Game of Thrones Edition: The Taxes Are Coming!!!

Source: Reason Magazine-

Source: Reason Magazine: Tax Day is Coming- Game of Thrones

The taxes are coming! The taxes are coming! The taxes are coming! Everybody grab your wallets and bank accounts and, if you have a lot of money, be prepared to send it to your Swiss bank account because this is the time of year that makes everyone excepts Socialists cry. That's right, it's tax season, when we have to give Uncle Sam a big fat check so he can spend our money, on our behalf (supposedly), and, if we are lucky, we get that some of it back in a refund.

While 85-90% of the country right now is crying about how much they are going to have to pay in taxes, there are big wine and cheese parties in New York, Boston, greater New England, and San Francisco where Socialists are celebrating the payment of their taxes with smiles on their faces. The person who paid the most in taxes, with the biggest smile about paying them, gets to drink and eat free, during the party.  Government will hit them all again later with sales and income taxes but the winner is a Socialist and that will just make them smile.

To be serious for a second, and then I'll get back to being an asshole, I'm really not anti-government or anti-tax.  I'm anti-big government and anti-bad government.  Millions of Americans have to pay for a government that they wouldn't wish on their worst enemies.  With all of the corruption, tax money funding pork barrel projects, political contributions coming God knows where because we don't have full-disclosure,  the vast majority of the electorate doesn't have a damn clue as far as where the money flowing into politicians' pockets comes from, leaving millions of Americans to ask a good question, "Why do I have to pay for this?"  If I wanted to pay for corruption I would hire a lawyer or buy a used car.

The Weekly Standard: Abby Wisse Schachter: The New Paternalism

Source:The FreeState

Does liberal democracy come with risks which is different from being dangerous and does individual freedom come with risks as well and does society as a whole not just government have an interest to see that everyone is living as healthy as a life as possible not just physically? The answers to these questions is of course yes, but the real question is who should make the decisions. The individual who knows himself or herself better than anyone and one way or the other will have to deal with the consequences of their decisions for good or bad?

Or government trying to make our decisions for us? The answer to this whole question is the difference between liberal democracy which comes with a lot of individual freedom and responsibility. And paternalism or some type of big paternalist state where risks and rewards are very limited because the central government controls most of the power in the country. How you answers these questions pretty much defines your own politics. And if you are a Liberal like me, you simply believe in liberal democracy, but that it should come with individual responsibility as well. 

And that means the individual has the freedom to make their own decisions with their own lives. Not the freedom to hurt innocent people obviously, but the freedom to manage their own lives. But then has to deal with the consequences of their own decisions for good or bad. The rewards from making good decisions and the consequences of making bad decisions. So they are incentivize to make good decisions in the future and to make fewer bad decisions in the future as. Well which benefits society as a whole rather than government trying to make criminals out of people for making bad decisions with their own lives. 

If you are someone who believes individual freedom is somehow dangerous and perhaps risky, then you essentially believe and perhaps you would put it on more colorful terms, but that freedom incentivizes people to make bad decisions. That freedom is too risky and that people are stupid anyway and with more personal choice, come more bad decision-making. And what we need is a government especially a central government big enough to only prevent people from making bad decisions, but punish the idiots who dumb enough to break the law and take individual responsibility over their own lives. 

The difference between the individualist and the collectivist or even statist, is that the individualist believes in a free society or free state. The collectivist or statist believes in the nanny state and depending on how far the collectivist distrusts individualism, they may believe in a police state as well. The difference between Thomas Jefferson the father of liberal democracy and liberalism and Michael Bloomberg, not the father of the nanny state, but certainly their current president and head of state. 

The whole War on Drugs fiasco is a perfect example of that. If you are to the left of me and let’s say one of the Progressives of today,  or what is called a modern Progressive, then you think personal freedom is dangerous. Because if gives people the freedom to make bad decisions that society as a whole has to deal with. My answer to people being able to make bad decisions is to eliminate the middleman or middle women. And put the responsibility of the individual to manage their own lives and allow them to collect the rewards of their good decisions. 

And leave the people to deal with the consequences of their bad decisions again so they are incentivize to make good decisions in the future. And fewer bad decisions in the future as well, rather than forcing taxpayers to bail them out when they make bad decisions. Or making criminals out of people who make bad decisions with their own lives. Which is why liberal democracy is a great system as long as it comes with individual responsibility so people do not have to bail out others when they make bad decisions.

Antony Davies: If Government Ordered Your Lunch

Source:Real Life Journal

This idea that a group of people centralized in one big city, even a city that I love, can direct the lives of a country of 320M people, that’s a continental nation that’s between two large oceans, is crazy. People who I call Statists or political nannies, (whether they are female or male) have this idea that a certain lifestyle that they live, must be able to work for everyone, no matter how large the country, or how diverse it is. Because this lifestyle works for them and if you don’t conform with it, there’s something wrong with you. You are ignorant in some way, sort of how the establishment treated Hippies in the 1960s and 70s. But this type of thing is still going on today, from the Left and Right. To be blunt about it, the Far-Left and Far Right. People who have this idea of what it means to be an American. From the right because this is how it use to be. And from the Left this is how its done in other countries, it seems to work there, so this is how we should be living as a country.

Thats not the role of government to direct how its people live. But what they can do with agencies like FDA is inform Americans on the dangers and benefits of doing this, or that. Put out all the credible info available, but not try to force people to live that way. Because they know that they can’t. The War on Drugs, or organized gambling, are excellent examples of this. And then to make suggestions on what activities are healthy and what aren’t and what are the benefits and minus’ of doing such activities. Suggesting that people eat balance diets and exercise everyday, knowing that they can’t force people to do those things.

And this is what alcohol, tobacco and I would add marijuana can do to you, instead of trying to outlaw those things and trying to protect people from themselves. The United States is simply to large and vast of a country for an elite group in Washington, or anywhere else to try to control a country that is this large. But what it can do, is inform people on what activities are healthy and unhealthy in life and make suggestions. About certain things in what Americans should do with their lives based on credible research not ideology

The Humble Libertarian: Judy Morris: Big Government at Work: Tennessee Senate Approves Bill To Warn Students That Hand-Holding is a Gateway Sexual Activity: Big Government Gone Wild

Source:Real Life Journal 

This just in, in the world of big government, a world so big Ray Charles could see it blindfolded. The Tennessee Senate just came up with an idea to restrict how Americans live their own lives, and beat Rick Santroum and Michelle Bachmann to the punch, or at least made this idea public before they did. They just approved a bill that would warn Tennessee students that they apparently don’t trust to make their own decisions in this area, that is consensual human contact. 

Apparently Tennessee schools aren’t very good or something. And their students aren't capable of making these decisions on their own. They just passed a bill That would warn their students, that "Hand Holding Is a Gateway to Sexual Activity”. And no this is not a joke, kinda like alcohol is a gateway to marijuana. Or flying in a gateway to Bungee Jumping.Driving is a gateway to drunk driving, smoking is a gateway to arson. Well that makes just as much sense as this Tennessee Senate bill. 

You know what the next step to this is, well I’ll tell you anyway. The Tennessee Senate may try to outlaw adultery or pre-marital sex. Maybe they'll create a Tennessee State Sex Police, where an officer would go buy each home in the state everyday and night, to make sure no one is having an adulterous affair. Or go by every club and bar and demand to see everyone’s marriage license, to make sure they are not having an affair. 

These assumptions aren’t completely far-fetched. U.S. Senator  Jim DeMint, a champion of big government suggested back in 2010 that adultery should be illegal in the United States. But now he’s saying the Republican Party should become more libertarian on social issues. Holy Mitt Romney flip flop Batman! Make up your mind man! You're on complete opposite sides of the same issues! Stop taking pages from Mitt Romney’s playbook. This is big government at its worse, interfering with how Americans live their own lives. 

And just another reason why sane intelligent people shouldn’t live in Tennessee. Even though I would like to visit both Nashville and Memphis. And makes Tennessee look like a laughing stock to everyone who doesn’t live in a mental institution or in the Bible Belt. Which is most of the country, but with state senators like this, who needs mental patients. And it gives reason to believe that are mental institutions aren’t overcrowded enough.