“You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anyone anything without first first taking it from someone else.

When half of the people get the idea that they don’t have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.”

Adrian Pierce Rogers (Sep 12, 1931 – Nov 15, 2005)
American pastor, conservative, author and a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979-1980 and 1986-1988).

Kind of sums it up pretty clearly, doesn’t it?

I just finished up calculating our taxes. Both me and my wife work full-time. My wife works on-staff at a church “full-time” (which, in church lingo means about 80 hrs a week), and I have my own business designing and building websites, logos, print material, etc, as well as travel for music and lead worship for various events (which in self-employed lingo means about 24/7).
see the 7Places banner in the sidebar —>

We both accept and feel the responsibility to pay for our own house, pay our own bills, feed our kids, put gas in our vehicles, etc. Because I have my own business, I get hit with seemingly massive taxes. Now, we have enough deductions and expenses that we’re not going to have to declare bankruptcy to pay our tax burden, but we still have the responsibility to pay thousand(s) in taxes.

Now, contrast this with another couple i know … let’s call them Couple X. Couple X seems to barely work (if at all) and any work gained seems to be paid under-the-table. They receive welfare checks. They receive food assistance, etc. You get the picture. They calculate their “taxes” and magically they receive a check for thousands!

What?!?!?! You want to talk about injustices?!?! How the hell does that happen? I, in my sense of responsibility to provide for my family, have the drive to work harder, smarter, etc … but the more money I make, the more money the government takes, just to give it away to people who don’t do jack crap!!!!!

Hell, why doesn’t the government just pair up people who work and contribute to society with people who are drains on society and have us support them directly? Oh, because it cuts congress’ greedy filters. Never mind.

What incentive does this give me to work harder, smarter, better? Why don’t we just sit on our asses and let the government give us free money … well, not really free money … but money from someone else who has the sense of responsibility to provide and be productive to society?

SECONDARY RELATED RANT
I could go on and on about the upside down thinking of the liberals. Liberals think that “the man” (big corporations) is evil because they have a lot of money, and that their money should be distributed among poor people to “distribute the wealth.”

Let me ask you, when was the last time you saw a poor person employ someone? If you want to lower unemployment … give big corporations tax breaks. You don’t need to take more money from them. They (like me) are in business to make money. It’s very simple, if you increase their tax burden, they will look for ways to maintain their profits:

• reduce quality in materials
• increase costs
• fire employees

And if this is true, then the opposite has to be true as well. If you reduce their tax burden (so that there is more available money in the business), then businesses will look for more ways to invest their profits:

• increase quality in materials
• decrease costs (maybe maybe not – supply/demand will drive this)
• hire employees

But we have morons in control, making decisions at the government level thinking the answer is take more money so the government can control where it gets sent … and BINGO … that’s the key. Read that again – so the government can control. We have elected leaders who have perverted the idea of our Constitutional Republic to the point where our original intent of our country’s founding is no longer recognized in leadership.

OK, I could go on and on, but I’ll have to save that for another time. And this is all based on factual information – just wait until I break out some of my conspiratorial theories … that are coming true – don’t miss it.

RELATED STORY

Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax

Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it’s simply somebody else’s problem.

About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That’s according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.

Most people still are required to file returns by the April 15 deadline. The penalty for skipping it is limited to the amount of taxes owed, but it’s still almost always better to file: That’s the only way to get a refund of all the income taxes withheld by employers.

In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax.

Tax cuts enacted in the past decade have been generous to wealthy taxpayers, too, making them a target for President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. Less noticed were tax cuts for low- and middle-income families, which were expanded when Obama signed the massive economic recovery package last year.

The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners — households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 — paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

“We have 50 percent of people who are getting something for nothing,” said Curtis Dubay, senior tax policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

The vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property.

That helps explain the country’s aversion to taxes, said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert Deloitte Tax. He said many people simply look at the difference between their gross pay and their take-home pay and blame the government for the disparity.

“It’s not uncommon for people to think that their Social Security taxes, their 401(k) contributions, their share of employer health premiums, all of that stuff in their mind gets lumped into income taxes,” Stretch said.

The federal income tax is the government’s largest source of revenue, raising more than $900 billion — or a little less than half of all government receipts — in the budget year that ended last Sept. 30. But with deductions and credits, especially for families with children, there have long been people who don’t pay it, mainly lower-income families.

The number of households that don’t pay federal income taxes increased substantially in 2008, when the poor economy reduced incomes and Congress cut taxes in an attempt to help recovery.

In 2007, about 38 percent of households paid no federal income tax, a figure that jumped to 49 percent in 2008, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center.

In 2008, President George W. Bush signed a law providing most families with rebate checks of $300 to $1,200. Last year, Obama signed the economic recovery law that expanded some tax credits and created others. Most targeted low- and middle-income families.

Obama’s Making Work Pay credit provides as much as $800 to couples and $400 to individuals. The expanded child tax credit provides $1,000 for each child under 17. The Earned Income Tax Credit provides up to $5,657 to low-income families with at least three children.

There are also tax credits for college expenses, buying a new home and upgrading an existing home with energy-efficient doors, windows, furnaces and other appliances. Many of the credits are refundable, meaning if the credits exceed the amount of income taxes owed, the taxpayer gets a payment from the government for the difference.

“All these things are ways the government says, if you do this, we’ll reduce your tax bill by some amount,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

The government could provide the same benefits through spending programs, with the same effect on the federal budget, Williams said. But it sounds better for politicians to say they cut taxes rather than they started a new spending program, he added.

Obama has pushed tax cuts for low- and middle-income families and tax increases for the wealthy, arguing that wealthier taxpayers fared well in the past decade, so it’s time to pay up. The nation’s wealthiest taxpayers did get big tax breaks under Bush, with the top marginal tax rate reduced from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, and the second-highest rate reduced from 36 percent to 33 percent.

But income tax rates were lowered at every income level. The changes made it relatively easy for families of four making $50,000 to eliminate their income tax liability.

Here’s how they did it, according to Deloitte Tax:

The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on $24,000 is $2,769.

With two children younger than 17, the family qualified for two $1,000 child tax credits. Its Making Work Pay credit was $800 because the parents were married filing jointly.

The $2,800 in credits exceeds the $2,769 in taxes, so the family makes a $31 profit from the federal income tax. That ought to take the sting out of April 15.

A 6 year old and a 4 year old are upstairs in their bedroom.

“You know what?” says the 6 year old. “I think it’s about time we started cussing.”

The 4 year old nods his head in approval The 6 year old continues, “when we go downstairs for breakfast, I’m gonna say something with hell and you say something with ass.”

The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.

When the mother walks into the kitchen and asks the 6 year old what he wants for breakfast, he replies, “Aw, hell, Mom, I guess I’ll have some Cheerios.”

WHACK! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up and runs upstairs crying his eyes out, with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear with every step. His mom locks him in his room and shouts, “You can stay there until I let you out!”

She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4 year old and asks with a stern voice, “And what do YOU want for breakfast, young man?”

“I don’t know,” he blubbers, “but you can bet your fat ass it won’t be Cheerios!”

3-4 weeks ago a small (emphasis on small) bump appeared kind of on the backside of where my shoulder and armpit meet. didn’t think much of it – actually thought it was a small pimple starting up, so i didn’t mess with it.

after a couple of weeks of being there i decided, “i’m going to pop this thing and get it over with,” but when i tried to mess with it, it felt hard like there was a pelet or BB under my skin. so again i let it go, until …

overnight one night it went from the size of a BB to a golf ball!!!! not only was it golf ball size, but it became purple and red and sore … a good enough sign it’s time to go to the doctor.

So, the doctor decides it’s an abcess and says, “let’s cut it out.” Now, it looks like i’ve got a gunshot wound next to my armpit!

that dark stuff near the bottom is tape residue

I ACTUALLY HAVE A HOLE IN MY ARM!!!!!
It’s about the diameter of the inner hole of a CD/DVD and about as deep as your average pinky finger up to the first knuckle. Crazy insane.

This afternoon I went through the drive-through at a certain local fast food chain. When I asked the kind lady taking my money and passing my food through a hole in the side of the wall, I asked for a cup of barbecue dipping sauce.

“That’ll be $0.25,” she said in a semi-joking manner.
“Yeah, just put it on my tab,” I quipped in a like manner.
“No, seriously. If you didn’t order chicken strips or something that logically accompanies your order, we have to charge $0.25.”
“Yabba-dabba what?! Well, Nevermind, I guess my fries aren’t dippable enough. Thanks anyway.”

So, THAT’S where they’re going to overcome their losses – charging a quarter for 2 oz of barbecue sauce? Sign of the apocalypse.

Enjoy.

[Show as slideshow]

that’s definitely a “new song”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGq0ZwA-SU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOtzdAuosZE

Dear Mr Branson

REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008

I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.

Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at thehands of your corporation.

Look at this Richard. Just look at it:

I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?

You don’t get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it’s next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That’s got to be the clue hasn’t it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in:

I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn’t custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what’s on offer.

I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this:

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.

Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.

By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it’s baffling presentation:

It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn’t want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.

I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.

Once cleared, I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on:

I apologise for the quality of the photo, it’s just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson’s face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel:

Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I’d had enough. I was the hungriest I’d been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.

My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations:

Yes! It’s another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff.

Richard…. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I’d done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.

So that was that Richard. I didn’t eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can’t imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.

As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It’s just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it’s knees and begging for sustenance.

Yours Sincererly

XXXX

* Paul Charles, Virgin’s Director of Corporate Communications, confirmed that Sir Richard Branson had telephoned the author of the letter and had thanked him for his “constructive if tongue-in-cheek” email. Mr Charles said that Virgin was sorry the passenger had not liked the in-flight meals which he said was “award-winning food which is very popular on our Indian routes.”