Tax and Entitlement Rant and Economic Update

Income taxes, a wonderful disguise for a term otherwise that might as well be referred to as redistribution of wealth. Taxation without representation is something that we saw that spurred our nations’ proud Revolutionary War that freed this country from the oppressive government across the Atlantic. The more that time progresses, the more we are seeing history come around full circle and repeat itself. Taxes are a way for the government to control society and manipulate its people’s behavior. Unfortunately, in our imperfect system of government, our taxes in most situations gets managed in ways that are in the best interest for those running the system to benefit interested parties that will in turn reelect the officials back in. Not only that, forcing individuals to pay taxes opens up opportunities for the government to artificially manipulate spending habits and daily lives. For instance, if our government wants us to buy a house to spur the market, they give its taxpayers a tax credit. We’ve seen this in multiple areas over many topics including green energy tax credits, children credits, college tuition deductions, car purchases, etc. And believe us, the list goes on. Taxes are a form of control that allows the government to infringe upon the rights of its citizens.

 

There is actually room to argue that taxes are necessary to pay for things that are needed by the community in general such as roads, highways, military, police, fire department, and government elected officials. But, why is America on the road with a runaway entitlement program and spending that the taxpayers are burdened with? In reality, there is no such thing as equality. We are all born different and with different talents, different strengths, and different weaknesses. Try and tell a business owner that he or she should hire anyone off the street because everyone is equal. Or go and have Kobe Bryant sub out in the fourth quarter for George Bush because we live in an equal world where everyone deserves what everyone else gets. Of course our examples are preposterous, but it’s a mentality that is plaguing this country and steering America further and further away from a free country where people can come and truly live the “American Dream.” So if it’s not equality, what should we expect? Equal Opportunity is what we should desire and expect anyone and everyone to get in this country we call the “Land of the Free.”

Currently in California, the Dream Act is one step away from being passed. This will enable illegal immigrants to be able to qualify for taxpayer funded Cal Grants, community college fee waivers, and other public scholarship opportunities once reserved for only legal Americans. Really, it’s bad enough when the government takes our money and hands it out to other Americans, but now we’re so close to actually rewarding people to break the law and forcefully make hardworking taxpaying Americans carry the burden of paying for non-citizen/ non-tax paying illegal aliens. We will be stamping our approval on all those who want to disregard American laws and cut in front of the flock of those who are attempting to enter this country legally. 

What is so unreal about this whole bill is that it’s a fight to include many illegals into government subsidized education while there are going to still be American students who are going to have to pay full price! It’s as if there are individuals who are strongly opposed to the taxpayer and want others to work extra and pay more to achieve some social equality. This is happening on a grand scale and in so many areas including healthcare, state and local prisons, and beyond. Of course it’s a political move for the leaders who support the Dream Act, just because something is detrimental to our economy, doesn’t mean that it won’t be good for their own personal gain in government.

The argument that we achieve equality when individuals receive equal benefit and live similar lifestyles is a fallacy because the ones who are putting more into the system are having to work to put substantially more into the system as opposed to those that drain the system and its resources. Taxing individuals and corporations only makes them look for ways to get around the taxes or flat out move to other locations that aren’t as much of a burden on its taxpayers. California is one of the most highly taxed states and yet still manages to have one of the worst economies in the country comparing state to state. Like Ron Paul has stated time and time again, what we have is a spending problem, not an income problem.

Markets have seen some slight upward movement since Hurricane Irene was not as devastating as some were predicting and Ben Bernanke deferring the announcement for QE3 until a later time. William Simon, president of Walmart, noted that “consumers are still under pressure.” They are trading down to cheaper products and choosing smaller packages and forgoing discretionary buying. It’s important to understand that consumer confidence is huge when determining whether the economy is on track and if we’re headed towards getting out of a recession. If consumers aren’t confident in the economy, then they spend less. This in turn causes companies to halt in expansion and growth because of the fear of lack of consumer demand. This is an important factor that we will continuously monitor as we continue to go through this economic recession.

Last week we saw gold come down from its high of $1,910 an ounce to a periodic low of $1,712, which has since bounced upwards from there. For all of you who may have that buyers’ remorse and are questioning the importance of gold accumulation, just remember that gold at $1,712 was an all-time high as close as August 5th. Really the only ones who would be complaining now are the Johnny come latelys who purchased during this last bull rush. Although they may feel that they experienced a slight burn with the brief sell-off, we feel that gold is going to continue to thrive and do well and has extreme upside potential in the near future.

This past weekend CrushTheStreet.com released its bimonthly video update, which is currently our featured video on our front page. Visit CrushTheStreet.com to watch our latest news update!!!

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” –Albert Einstein