AFSCME No Questions For They Will Just Tell You Lies
The race is on for the House of Representatives seat once held by one of the most embarrassing and corrupt human beings to ever be called an American; the late John Murtha. Spare me the false praise and silly defenses of the unindicted coconspirator of ABSCAM, the man who went to his grave having called our Marines in Iraq murderers and a man who secured so much unconstitutional pork for his district that he oinked. I am not in the mood for it.
“Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well known is this: ‘Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!’” – Vizzini (The Princess Bride)
There is another classic blunder that should be added to the list. And I am sure that Vizzini would have added it had he not, just seconds after uttering these words, fallen over dead from unwittingly poisoning himself. I am referring to of course the classic blunder of believing anything a government union tells you. AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, provides us a stark lesson as to why this is true.
The race is on for the House of Representatives seat once held by one of the most embarrassing and corrupt human beings to ever be called an American; the late John Murtha. Spare me the false praise and silly defenses of the unindicted coconspirator of ABSCAM, the man who went to his grave having called our Marines in Iraq murderers and a man who secured so much unconstitutional pork for his district that he oinked. I am not in the mood for it.
In PA-12 they are currently preparing for a special election to fill out the remainder of Murtha’s term and like Golem fearing that he is about to lose the One Ring forever the Democrats and their allies are plotting, lying, scratching, and even biting to keep that from happening. The political intrigue aside about how Tim Burns was chosen by Republican elders as their official candidate by party insiders over Bill Russell who has already run in the district once held by the King of Pork, the left is up to their old tricks again. Right now AFSCME is running ads on the radio which included a half truth that is twisted into a lie.
I know! A real shocker right?
These ads start out proclaiming that Tim Burns supports raising taxes 23% through a national sales tax. From there on the ads deviate from the tracks of reality even further and start asking questions about how the middle class, the poor and seniors will be able to afford such a tax on gasoline, food and medicine. In the end you are left with the impression that Tim Burns wants to put grandma under his boot and crush her.
But then again, this is AFSCME we are talking about here. I think we've seen this ploy before.
The facts? Tim Burns' stance on a national sales tax is a little murky. He has spoke in favor of a specific plan called the FairTax and then turned around to later call it not practical. I presume that this is because he simply could not speak intelligently enough on the subject and just decided to beat a hasty retreat.
So what is the FairTax? This is a tax which is a national retail sales tax on new goods and services and not just a national sales tax. Buy a home previously built and owned by someone else and you pay no sales tax. Buy a used car and you pay no sales tax. The FairTax also does not tax any money spent up to the poverty line through a prebate system where Americans are refunded each and every month the amount of taxes they would pay on that amount of money based on government tables of family size and poverty levels. FYI, this is also one of my biggest gripes with the FairTax in that it makes the tax progressive and maintains a segment of our population who still would pay no taxes. Thus they would still not interested in how tax dollars are spent and that is bad for a representative Republic such as ours.
The FairTax also does something else that AFSCME does not want voters in Pennsylvania’s 12th District to know because, well, it would really hurt their chances at slandering Tim Burns after all. See, the FairTax actually replaces not just the personal income tax and the corporate income tax but also federal payroll taxes for things like Medicare and Social Security. It does not however repeal the 16th Amendment because legislation cannot do that and leaving the possibility that liberal politicians who love to tax labor and spend our money could reinstate a new income tax on top of the FairTax. This is why supporters of the FairTax, to a man, also support the repeal of the 16th Amendment. But, as has been said, that has to be done separately.
So while there is a new national retail sales tax on new goods and services of 23% there is an elimination of all sorts of income taxes which strip money from your paycheck before you even see it and get to touch it. It also, through the elimination of corporate income taxes, which are just rolled up into the final cost of the goods and services you buy anyway and, takes away about 19% to 30% of the cost you pay for those goods and services. The exact rate depends on exactly what you are buying because different goods and services travel different paths to you, the consumer, and thus accrue a different level of tax burden passed on down the line. Yeah, the reality is that companies do not pay taxes. They just collect them from you and then transfer those dollars to the government. So if you are middle class and paying a 25% marginal tax rate on your income ($34,000 - $82,000 per year as a single person) plus all these rolled up corporate taxes on goods and services every time you purchase something it is pretty hard to explain how the such people will actually wind up paying more once you realize that direct debit from your paycheck each payday is removed.
Oh, and just in case you are worried about what will happen to people that rely on Medicare and Social Security if the FairTax were to be implemented and those payrolls taxes removed, the FairTax rate of 23% actually has been designed to include these taxes and maintain these programs. In fact it maintains all these little fiefdoms of power over the people from Food Stamps to Medicaid. Yeah, that is another problem that I have with the FairTax too; it keeps the socialist nanny state rolling right along.
If you want to learn more about the FairTax you can visit FairTax.org. Because taking AFSME’s word for what the plan involves would be a blunder too big to excuse. Yes, even bigger than getting involved in a land war in Asia. But hey, did you really expect the truth from a bunch of people that have made their lives off the government dole?
I am not saying run out and vote for Tim Burns if you are in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District just because AFSCME is a bunch of lying cretins. I am saying just make sure you are educated on the issues come Election Day. Because an educated public is the last thing AFSCME wants for they fear that their own little piece of the government pie might be shrunk. If it wasn’t, well then they would be telling you the truth wouldn’t they? The facts are that too many people have a vested interest in a complicated, arcane and easily manipulated tax code like the one we have now and anything that threatens to simplify said system must be lied about and shot down by any means necessary.
And let’s be even more brutally honest here. AFSCME would love Mark Critz to win in PA-12 because, well you know, he’s a Democrat and being an ex-Murtha staffer it would mean they can pretty much count on his vote in Congress to be just like Murtha was still there doing all the unconstitutionally things Murtha loved to do. Besides, you know that Republicans are just evil S.O.B.s who would rather you, “die quickly,” not be able to ever retire and wallow in misery. You know that right? Right!?!
What do you mean you don’t know that? What are you? Some sort of troublemaker? Ok, be that way then. Some of AFSCME’s fellow travelers from the SEIU will be visiting you shortly to beat some sense into you. Literally!
J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts http://www.cafepress.com/rightthings. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com
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