Genesis of the "NO" Logo

In history there have been two basic forms of social organization: collectivism and individualism. In the 20th and 21st century, collective variations have included socialism, fascism, Nazism, and communism. Under collectivism, a ruling class of “intellectuals”, bureaucrats, politicians and/or social planners decides what people want or what is “good” for society and then uses the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax and redistribute wealth in an attempt to achieve their desired objectives. Individualism is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes individual liberty, belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence and responsibility. It embraces opposition to controls over the individual when exercised by the state. The Preamble to our Constitution makes it plain that all power rests originally with the people, as individuals.
The “O” within the circle represents collectivism in its various forms. The “N” represents an emphatic repudiation of collectivism. The red, white and blue circles encompassing the “NO” are emblematic of our Republic. It is the responsibility of the individuals in an engaged and enlightened republic to limit the influence of the government, especially one that attempts to wield power outside the boundaries delineated by the Constitution.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Taxes and miscellaneous thoughts

My blog has a link to the 2006 summary of Federal Individual Income Tax data(updated 7/08). Here is the summary in a nutshell:
1. the top 1 % of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $388,806 or above) pay 40% of the entire federal income tax
2. the top 5 % of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $153,542 or above) pay 60% of the federal income tax
3. the top 10% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $108,904 or above) pay 71% of the federal income tax
4. the top 25% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $64,702 or above) pay 86% of the federal income tax
5. the top 50% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $31,987 or above) pay 97% of the federal income tax
6. the bottom 50% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of less than $31,987) pay 3% of the entire federal income tax
There was a recent promise made that households earning less than $250,000.00 would not see their taxes increased by "one single dime".
Now 2006 was, relatively speaking, a good year financially for the country. Fast forward to 2009. The financial meltdown and recession, with unemployment reaching levels not seen in years, are going to translate into fewer taxpayers. Small- and medium-sized businesses are the nation's primary employers and the business owners represent a large percentage of tax payers in the top tax brackets. If the tax burden is shifted disproportionately to the business owners, there will be less capital for expanding their businesses and hiring new workers. As a matter of fact, in 2006, the sum total of adjusted gross incomes of the top 10% of individual taxpayers was $3.84 trillion. If all of that money was confiscated by the government it would not cover the cost of the proposed 2010 budget of $4 trillion. The claim made that households earning less than 250k would not pay more taxes is a specious one. Ask yourself this question: How long do you think you would work harder just to pay more taxes before you got frustrated and down-scaled your business activities or found a way to declare less taxable income? Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged" had sold more books over the past 12 months than in any other 12 month period since it was written in 1957. In this novel the protagonist, John Gault, convinces the entrepreneurs to abandon their productive activities in order to starve the looters(political class) and moochers(societal parasites) of revenues created by their ideas and production. Most Americans are willing to pay their fair share of taxes for essential government services. The top 10% of tax payers already pay 71% of the total federal income tax! How much is enough?

Here is a link to a good article entitled "Awakening the Welfare Recipient within"
http://townhall.com/content/e099e4cb-f653-4667-82d1-1285b040599b
We have gone from assisting the less fortunate to subsidizing the irresponsible



Posted by Enlightened Republic at 8:16 PM