The Price You Must Pay...

Did you ever stop to think about the price you pay for living in a community of others?

You know, the cities and towns and villages across the Fruited Plain?  You move to the city for a job and for convenience and for safety.  And sometimes you get all three.

And sometimes you get none of them.

Just think about the fact you pay taxes to some Nameless, Faceless Government.  Sometimes yuuuuge taxes!  Did you know you have a partner when you take a job?  One who scalps you out of a Big Chunk of your earnings?  Without so much as a wet kiss?

Especially in the Big Blue States.  If you live in New Jersey but work in New York City, you pay taxes in NYC, and then a special 8% tax if you live in New Jersey and commute.  Plus, New Jersey taxes you, too.  New Jersey features the third highest taxes in the Nation.  You are surrounded by those with only one desire: remove you from your money. 

So the total personal income taxes in this case would be 62%!  Nearly two-thirds of your paycheck, ripped from your sweaty hands.  And there's no formal protest?  

And let's not forget Taxifornia.  After you pay your Federal Income Taxes, you get to pay another 13.2% to CA, if your income is high enough.  The Very Highest Income Taxes in America.  Taxifornia believes the weather is why you came here, and the weather will keep you here even if you get raped in the pocketbook.  Are they wrong? 

And then there's Sales Taxes.  You buy something and you get to pay 8%, even up to 11.2% sales taxes in some California cities.   Again, the Very Highest in the Nation.  

Or, you might be surprised to learn that almost half our States have no Sales Taxes at All.  Texas and Tennessee and Nevada and Florida, etc., etc.  No Income Taxes and No Sales Taxes.  So, VOILA!, you get to keep what you earn.  What a concept!

But I digress...

And then there's Property Taxes.  You buy a piece of dirt, and you get to keep on buying it forever.  You must pay the local Gubmint sometimes Big Money, for what?  For the right to continue owning it.  Who came up with that plan?  Oh yeah, your little city installs and maintains a water and sewage line to your piece of dirt.  Ummm, is that hard?  Once it's built, must you pay for it forever, even if maintenance and repair is not needed?  

Yes, you must.

There are some precincts in which property taxes are simply beyong belief.  An $900,000 home in New York or New Jersey carries with it property taxes of $11,000 a year.  And you probably wouldn't want to live in that $900,000 house.  

All this is making my head hurt.  Let's think about something else.  Let's go fishing, okay?  Ummm, but first you must buy a Fishing License.  You must pay the Gubmint for the right to fish.  There's a stream behind your house, and there's fish in it, but you can't fish without the Gubmint's permission.  You must first pay them.  And for hunting as well.  You'll go to jail if you shoot that deer without a license, even if your family's starving and you need to eat.  

Think of that: you can't afford food, but you have to pay the Gubmint money you don't have for a chance to hunt a deer you might not find.  Or a squirrel.  Or a rabbit.  

Now let's talk cars.  You buy a car.  Because it's not "real" property (it's called "chattel,"), you have to pay sales taxes on it (except for the enlightened, Big Red states I mentioned earlier).  A $100,000 car could cost another $11,200 if bought in Glendale, the Once Great State of California.  And even after you buy it you have to register it.  Another $1,000 or so to the State.  And you have to REREGISTER it every year.  Costing another $800 - $900.  Each and every year!  For the privelege of driving on CA's streets.

And gas?  Oh yeah, Taxifornia has the highest gas prices in the Nation.  That's why a gallon of gas in CA costs an average of $5.87, versus $3.02 Nationally.  Taxes on a gallon now cost $0.65 cents here, and it's due to increase ANOTHER $0.65 cents come July 4th.   

Want to camp in a National Forrest?  It will cost you.  Why, you might ask?  To pay the salaries of the Park Rangers and the Game Wardens.  But I don't need the Park Rangers or the Game Wardens!  All I want to do is pull over to the side of the road, pitch my tent and camp!  Doesn't matter.  It's the Golden Rule:  "He who has the gold, rules."  

You need to know that every single thing you do will cost you.  Except farting.  You can fart without being taxed.  Although I'm guessing there's some high-level commission working right now on how to tax you when you fart.  Probably couched in some Global Warning legislation.   

I used to own and manage a business.  I was visited often by representatives of the police, and fire, looking for a handout.  Except they framed it under an annual sticker for my fire extinguishers.  Or tickets to the policeman's ball.  Better buy, they suggested.  "Just to be on the safe side."  I could swear I heard the theme song from "The Godfather" playing in the background.  

And please don't die.  Especially if you're in one of those Money Grabbing States.  Die in New York or Illinois or Maryland and the State will charge your heirs a full 55% of your wealth.  It's called the Death Tax.  And these politicians will laugh in your face if you complain.

I often wondered how an elected representative can retire a multi-millionaire on a $100,000 job.  And then I started adding up all the ways we're fleeced like a bleating sheep.  Makes one want to build a Cabin in the Woods.  One near a stream, stocked with trout.  And deer cavorting shamelessly nearby.  One with a long, long winding driveway.  With lots of signs saying, "Private Property, unless you want to be opened up like a can of tuna, turn around and GTFO!"

It feels sooooo damm good to be able to dream out loud!  Even though some dreams do not come true, if you share your dreams, like I'm doing right now, maybe somebody elses's will...