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Well; this is it, the final chapter in the rape of the middle class taxpayer. The Bush cuts have been financed by the huge deficits; essentially borrowed money that makes up the difference between what the Feds take in on taxes and what they must pay out. Sort of like living on your credit cards. Now they want to put the finishing touch on us with the elimination of...THE MORTGAGE DEDUCTION. We are screwed big time now. This at the same time that the Bush will lower the taxes on Capital Gains again to ten per-cent. Hey; way to go rich people. Need help carrying all that cash? I work for food.
Hey, everything is OK again - you CAN`T be in this situation - tax on almost everything you buy 54-65%, doctors salary $200 per month (but prices on almost everything higher then in US), and yes - war, everyday alarms...you name it. Only ten years ago. Another day - another dollar (more or less) - who really cares, there are much better things then politics/taxes/money... IMO.
I understand your lack of concern about the tax situation over here but I have bills to pay and kids to send to college so it is important to me. And what are those things anyway? Unless you decide to become a Zen Monk you will need money and you will need to vote and you will need to support your home and family; so what are those things that are more important than politics? Want to hear my sad story. 7600$ per year property tax. close to 20k$ per year in income taxes. Another 6-8K$ PY in sales taxes. 7900$ for tuition for my son and another 2500$ for me. 2600$ per yr for heat 2600$ for electricity 1800$ for telephone. 3000$ in medical payments, I have lots more where that came from. All this does not include food and shelter/ Mrtgage $20k per year/gas and auto repairs and insurance(another 6k$ per year)? Can you see why I would be concerned? And I am not doing badly compared to others. So tell me; what do you pay for rent?
My point is that you are among THE PRIVILEGED MINORITY on this planet who had gas, and hot water, and water to drink, and food, and education, and a home, and telephones, and Internet, and medical care, and electricity, and a car, and culture, and job, and money, and newspapers, and roads, and peace, even freedom...
Thats all true but does it mean I shouldn't care about politics? Or paying taxes? Or that I should not discuss these things? I love comedy and will listen to or watch any one who does it well; unfortunately those people are very few and very far between and what passes for funny a lot of times just isn't. I like stories that have a point or are amusing or interesting; so do you have one? Your hiking adventures are interesting; thats for sure. You have to understand this country has gone through a very polarising six years. From a paradise with good living for all and lots of good times it has become a nation of death and disadvantage; of the rich taking much more than any reasonable share of the countries resources; the corporate interests have slowly eroded any rights to our land held in common by the people through the relentless dismemberment of the environemental protections forged throughout the past hundred years. There is a stifling of free expression and a fog of religous intolerance poisoning the everyday discourse of society. There are disengenous forces of fundamentalism conspiring to hijack the principles that dictate who and what we are as a nation and of which we have struggled so hard for so many years to abide in. Freedom of thought and expression has become a target of people without integrity based upon pushing a selfish agenda based on greed and accumulating power. People with small minds who cannot accept the control of their own lives turn that priviledge over to groups of narrow minded ideologues spouting nonsensical rules of behaviour for all of society like they have some personal mandate from some omniscient being. Violating the most sacred tenents of our founding fathers in order to behave like weak and powerless sheep in the name of some phanthom moral imperitive. Sacrificing their roles as independant thinkers in order to become ameoba like followers of specious political hucksters and psuedo religous jive artists who seek to twist and distort the political process by manipulating the spineless with cheapjack philosophies designed to rope a dope the most vulnerable and emotionally insipid amongst us and use that power of the feckless zombie vote to accomplish their nefarious ends. This execution of a long standing plan by the wealthy in concert with the religous organisations to acquire and share the power and resources of the people amongst a small few of the selected is running up against a small but dedicated groundswell of real and genuine Americans who believe in the rights of all citizens to decide their own fate independant of organisations whose purpose is to control and define debate. There are signs that men who are leaders not followers are begginning to rebel and assert their authority against the self-righteous; self-aggrandizing replicants that have attempted to force their lame agendas on the rest of us. We shall see. Does that help at all? I have three words to end here; Stem Cell Research. They can't stop it because there are enough men left with independant minds and personal integrity who refuse to become subject to some collection of spineless supplicants and to do battle for the cuases that promote the independance of humanity.
My friend said yesterday: "Well, I saw a socialism, I see the capitalism, I saw the war and cities in fire, I saw dead people, I flew across the tank through explosion, I saw unjustice and politicians, I saw misery, I was in the hospital, I worked hard, and I fought for the country. And yesterday I bought gasoline for $8, I can`t buy the new tires. And all of that politics/economics/Laws are just against small people. They want our money and our souls. Screw them all." Decades