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The Churchill Quote

"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.

In the past few days this quote has popped up on quite a few Facebook statuses, followed by the instructions to Pass this around keep it going... let the country know that we can't afford Obama or his CHANGE!!!IF you don't agree, delete it! That is "one" of the few rights we still have left. It's an interesting quote and one that initially makes tons of sense and one would question the Obama regime and it's thought process, but the problem with the statement is that the bucket analogy doesn't quite hold water.

Federal revenues increase almost every year. They generally do regardless of tax cuts or tax hikes. Only five times since 1962 have they decreased. Only five times in the last 48 years. Four of those years were from 2001 through 2005. During that duration, Bush lowered taxes twice. There was some economic growth on a small scale, but it decimated the Federal Revenue. The only other time it decreased was one year during Reagan. I find this quite interesting.

Here's the irony with quoting Churchill. Churchill spent the early part of the last century campaigning for old age pensions (social security), unemployment insurance (unemployment and welfare) and public health care (or as my friends like to call it socialist health care). He believed back then that the government should take care of these things through taxation. Unfortunately, what happened was the passage of systems to patch the problem, but not fix it, and this set back all of these issues for decades. It seems to me that is what we are facing right now. Tax cuts always sound good to the average person, but did anyone feel better about their day to day living in 2001-2005? No, but during those years the beginning of the recession we are facing was just beginning to snowball.

Living in Westchester I have been in homes that have cost their owners lots of money. Having a house that is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars must make a person feel good about themselves, but something is forgotten. The value of one's home is developed for the sole purpose of taxation. In feudal times lords would let people work on their land and let them live there, for a fee. This is taxation and is how our current tax system came to be. We love to say that our laws, our constitution come from brilliant minds who molded this Utopia, but the reality is we've always been ruled by the haves and the majority has and will always be, the have-nots. This my friends is the essence of capitalism.

The problem isn't with who is being taxed, it's taxation in general. What kind of mind says that taking someones hard earned money for the use of the government with nothing given in return is fair (I think health care would be fair). Sure, Republicans will say it funds our military and our schools. During times of war this might be the of the utmost of importance. Churchill and all his quotes, were generally taken during times of war. Churchill relished war, because it made him a hero. It made him larger than life. Unfortunately, we're fighting unpopular wars these days. This isn't Obama's war. He inherited it and all the warts that came from the inadequacies of his predecessor.

To my knowledge and I admit, I am unclear of this issue. It is my understanding that Obama has no plan to raise taxes for those who make over a quarter a million dollars, but to ask that some of those returns be funneled back into government programs. I understand this as someone who makes five million dollars and due to charitable donations and write-offs is due to get back money, might have to take less back. Dick Cheney was to owe $1.7 million dollars in 2005, but thanks to Bush's tax cuts and some tactful Katrina donations (made with Halliburton money) he basically paid nothing. These types of tax evasions are what Obama is trying to curtail and in doing so, taking from money that should be there in the first place and using it for the greater good.

With all the negative comments I have heard and all the blame put on a man who has been in office a mere sixteen months, I would like to quote Churchill once again. I think he might just have respected our current president. "I have always felt that a politician is to be judged by the animosities he excites in his opponents." Well said, Sir Winston.

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