President Obama is convinced that the only way the federal government can survive is to raise taxes and we're fixing to get an ear full of the old Democrat mantra decrying "tax cuts for the rich".
Now you may be thinking, "Why do I care if those rich people get their taxes raised? It won't affect me."
Well, I beg to differ with you. When anybody's taxes are raised the money has to come from somewhere, and no it's probably not going to affect the lifestyle of the super rich much at all. They'll still fly private jets to St. Tropez, have their clothing custom made and continue to have their meals at places where the price of a bottle of wine would make a mortgage payment for a lot of folks.
So why should we care if their taxes go up?
I'll tell you why. It's not their lavish lifestyle that causes the problem, it's those billions of dollars of disposable income that would go into the stock market or expand the companies they own or otherwise invest in something besides the black hole in Washington where tax dollars disappear and are never seen again.
And if you work for a company that makes luxury items, planes, boats and cars or a service industry that caters to the rich, and they decide to do without those items or services, it could very well mean the loss of your job, your income and your livelihood.
If Washington really wanted to do something about the economy they would lower the highest corporate tax rate in the world and stop American businesses from moving their headquarters and factories overseas where the business climate is friendlier and the tax rate is lower thus bringing American jobs back.
Our government is spending America out of global competition and sending corporations and jobs overseas at an exponential rate, and for some reason they just can't seem to understand that there's no way we can survive another decade the way things are going.
I know that sounds like hyperbole but it's not. In my humble opinion it's cold hard fact. A nation simply cannot spend trillions of dollars it doesn't have and allow it's industrial base to shrink at the same time. It's called the point of diminishing returns and we've reached it.
What's happening is that America's corporate tax base keeps shrinking while its reckless spending continues to increase, putting our economy on a collision course with bankruptcy.
Let's put this on a little more personal basis.
I really resent it when somebody says that I don't pay enough tax.
I came to Nashville 44 years ago with a wife a two-year-old baby, the clutch out of my car and a twenty-dollar bill.
I took a city bus downtown where I went to a pawnshop and pawned just about everything we had of any value at all which amounted to about 60 dollars.
I drove to Lexington, KY every weekend, worked Friday and Saturday nights in nightclubs and drove back to Nashville so I could feed my family.
I worked in beer joints and honky tonks and took whatever came along to support my wife and son.
I've had cars repossessed, electricity turned off and had to borrow 20 dollars from a friend to buy groceries with.
I had no health insurance and no safety net and the union I belonged to couldn't protect my job if I didn't produce. If I didn't entertain the crowd I was out of a job, period.
I have literally wept because I missed my family so much and missed birthdays, school functions and all manner of my son's growing up.
I don't have anything I haven't earned by sweat, hardwork and the grace of God and resent anybody who thinks an irresponsible bunch of power drunk spendthrifts in DC have more right to what I earn than I do.
Nobody else may care if my taxes are raised but Roger Campbell, my guitar tech for over thirty years would because it would cut into his Christmas Bonus. In fact all of my 25 employees and their families will be affected if Obama gets his way.
And the sad part is that no matter how many tax increases Obama and his sycophants get it will never be enough, it will just enable them to drive the bus off the cliff sooner.
