24 truths about government:

1. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

2. If you want government to intervene domestically, you're a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you're a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you're a moderate. If you don't want government to intervene anywhere, you're an extremist. -- Joseph Sobran

3. In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -- Voltaire

4. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. -- Pericles

5. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. -- Judge Learned Hand

6. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard

7. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -- Douglas Casey

8. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke

9. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat

10. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan

11. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -- Will Rogers

12. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free. -- P.J. O'Rourke

13. No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. -- Mark Twain

14. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

15. Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it. -- Anonymous

16. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reagan

17. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill

18. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -- Mark Twain

19. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

20. There is no distinctly native American criminal class save Congress. -- Mark Twain

21. There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. -- P.J. O'Rourke

22. We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -- Edward Langley

24. When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. -- P.J. O'Rourke

Wow. I can honestly say that the Supreme Court surprised me a little. I never imagined that the highest court in the land would come out as a bunch of racists, but there you have it. In so many words, they think black people are inferior. Not just a little inferior either...so inferior that they must be given special accomodation to compesate for their lack of ability to compete academically for college admission. They called it the "compelling interest of diversity". Mind you, you won't find the word or concept in the Constitution. In fact, you'll find the exact opposite - the "equal protection" clause of the 14th amendment. That hasn't stopped our high court though...no sir, remember the "right to privacy" they found that nobody else can seem to find in the document? So, if you're black don't worry. Our courts have recognized your inferiority, and they're working hard to provide for your inadequacy. Feeling offended yet? Time to start nominating thinking people for these judgeships, isn't it?

I'm in a restless period right now, and I don't really know why.

Today, we're going to cover the differences between a tax credit and a tax deduction. We're going to do this for a very important and timely reason which I will make clear later.

A tax credit is deducted 100% from the tax bill of a taxpayer. If a person owes $1000 in taxes and has access to a $500 tax credit, he now owes $500. The tricky part comes in when someone owes no taxes. If someone owes no taxes, it would be impossible for them to utilize a tax credit, right? Wrong. See, in Washington DC, the word "fair" means something different than it does anywhere else. If, for example, a tax cut proposal only benefitted those who paid taxes in the first place (because cutting taxes for someone who doesn't pay them makes no sense) is seen as "unfair". So, there are "refundable tax credits" which allow a person to receive what essentially amounts to a transfer (i.e. welfare) payment through the tax code. If a person owes $0 in taxes, but has access to a $500 refundable credit, he gets a check for $500.

A tax deduction, on the other hand allows a person to reduce their taxable income by the amount of the deduction when calculating their taxes. If a person makes $1000 and owes 30% in taxes, he owes $300. Now, if he has access to a $500 deduction, his income goes down (on paper) to $500 and he owes $150. His actual benefit is $150, roughly 1/3 of the amount allowed for the deduction.

To not understand this is to fall into the linguistic trap being laid for you by opponents of tax cuts. First, they insist that the tax cuts benefit the rich. I agree. BECAUSE THE TOP 5% OF TAX PAYERS PAY 50% OF THE TAXES!!! Who the heck should benefit from a cut? Well, say the opponents, the poor should benefit - EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T PAY TAXES.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS?

Opponents of a tax cut for the rich are simultaneously proposing what amounts to new welfare payments. This is absolute insanity. I oppose taxing labor on principal, but even I can tell this debate is total crap. A tax cut benefits taxpayers? Say it ain't so!

Vote libertarian, my friends, or this will never, ever, ever, ever stop.