I Work for myself 49% of the Time

Mark Bureau ^ | July 6, 2001 | Mark Bureau

[bu9418]

Today is July 6, 2002.. Last July 6, I wrote what I thought at the time was my best article ever. I wanted to share it again, because we are getting close to another national election. It's time to remind people what the representatives were put there for. Please read the article at http://markbureau.p-kabu.com?articleid=8

Thanks for reading.

[vannrox]

The following was copied off of BU9418 website.
-- A nicely done site I must add.
Also, he is correct, this is a well written article.

I was driving to my place of employment on Friday, July 6, 2001 when I heard on the news that it was tax freedom day. You know, this is the day where you stop working to pay the cost of government and start working for yourself. Hearing that bit of news just about floored me and caused me to think. What else is new? Well, the result of that brainstorm caused this article, not the usual RAMBLINGS, but a letter to our Imperial Federal Government. I hope anyone reading this is as outraged as I.

. . . I work for myself 49% of the time . . . To:
The White House
The Senate
The House of Representatives

Date: July 6, 2001

Dear Representative,

As I sit here on July 6, 2001, just two days after our Nation's 225th birthday, I have a few things on my mind. You see, today, as has been reported, is tax freedom day. I am sitting wondering what that means to me. I heard on the radio that today is the symbolic date where the costs of federal, state, city and local governments are paid. In the year 2001, that means that the average United Statesian works more than 51 percent of his year to support the cost of government. That is astounding because those figures do not include payroll taxes like Social Security, and Medicare. They don't include the hidden payroll taxes such as unemployment insurance, and that 51% does not include the hidden taxes that almost double the price of the gasoline I put in my car so I can get to my place of employment to work 51.2% of my day to support a growing government. Why not tell the truth? Instead of telling us that 51.2 percent of our work day is to support government, give us the real number, tell us that just about 70% of every dollar we earn ends up in a government body's bank account. I wonder how many people would be as outraged as I am if they only knew!

Like I said, today is July 6, 2001, the 187th day of the year, and the 168th day of a new administration. Well, let's reflect on the first 167 days of the new government. We were given a tax cut. All taxpayers in the United States are eagerly awaiting their $300.00 checks. Wow! I wonder how many of those United Statesians, while they go cash those checks, have any idea that this wonderful tax cut is only temporary. I wonder how many of those United Statesians realize that you voted to lend us our own money. Do they know that this tax cut, if it is not repealed before hand, will be gone in ten years? You are successfully convincing the uninformed that they don't need a tax cut. That's right. The government is better suited to manage our money than we are. If you let us keep more of our money, it will somehow endanger us. If you let us keep more of our money, somehow we won't have enough money with which to live when we retire. If you let us keep more of our money, somehow we won't be able to afford prescription medication when we get older. I am having a hard time understanding why you think you are a better financial planner for my retirement than I am.

I have children. My children, at my own fault, attend your schools. They do not, however, choose to be indoctrinated with your socialistic propaganda. They are not politically correct. They do not believe your revisionist history; rather they listen, and come home and ask questions, or use their own minds, and ability to research to determine the difference between right and wrong. Your educational system is a complete failure. You are not teaching our children academics. You are teaching our children Socialism. Yet, for some reason, you feel the need to throw more of our tax dollars at this failing system. I have come to realize that your hearts are not with our children when it comes to education. Your hearts are with the most powerful lobbyists in our country, The Teachers Unions.

This country is now, and has been for a while, at the mercy of the members of OPEC. We have been in somewhat of an energy crisis for about a year now. There is no need for it. We have natural resources in the United States. We have natural resources off of US shores. But for some reason, you have elected not to drill for these resources. In your political minds, you have determined that the spotted owl, and the caribou in Alaska are more important than the economic strength of this country. You have determined that the energy providers, you like to call them "Big Oil", are making too much money in this capitalistic society. You have determined that we have problems with our ozone layers, thus you regulate our automobiles, you regulate our air conditioners, and our clothes dryers. I have come to realize that it is not our air quality that concerns you. It is not our rivers, not our streams, not our wildlife and not our health that concerns you. It is the donations of the environmentalists, and their agendas that concerns you.

Mr. Representative, you are no different from me with one exception. You are an elected official. You were voted into an office where your duty is to be a public servant. You are a representative of me, a member of your constituent. I have a responsibility to myself, but you also have a responsibility to me. Don't confuse that with being responsible for me. Your responsibility to me is to insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty. Based on that description, you have not represented me in a satisfactory manner. Although your intentions may have been admirable when you initially sought public office, you have successfully made the transformation from public servant to politician, or in other words, power monger. You have done everything you can to erode the very foundation of this country, its constitution. You have taken a solid foundation, the nation's very core, the ground on which it was built and made it a "living, breathing" document.

Mr. Representative, in the past six months, the country has watched as 535 of you struggle for power. We have watched the senate balance change when one of you disaffiliated himself from one political party. We heard that Mr. Daschle was just giddy over this move. Why? Somewhere along the way, Mr. Representative, you and your peers adopted a One-for-one and none-for-all attitude. Somewhere along the way, Mr. Representative, you and your peers took and transformed a republic of states into a one-tiered federal government, a government which rewards states with 'federal money" based on the laws they pass. You have transformed this great nation of states into a nation of sheep, dependant upon the welfare programs you developed as vote buying schemes. You have punished the achievers by telling them they need to pay their fair share. After all, the evil rich are greedy because they want to keep their own money. What does that make your sheep? They want not only to keep their own money, but everyone else's too.

Mr. Representative, the 2002 elections are just over a year away. You have that long to show me that you are a statesman, and not a politician. You have just over a year to show me that you are representing the principles of liberty, and not the fundamentals of socialism. You have just over a year to show me you want to reduce our burden to fund your agendas.

I voted for Liberty in the year 2000, and I intend to vote for Liberty in 2002. For your sake, I hope you are representing liberty in your campaign. I am not the only United Statesian who is opening his eyes and becoming fed up with your hunger for power. I am not the only one who is standing up for the blessings of liberty and freedom. If it is public office you desire, I would suggest you stop maintaining the status quo and begin lobbying to reinstate the principles on which this country was founded.

I am not alone. I am sure you will find that out in November 2002.

Mark R. Bureau