Tax Day

Today is the day where Americans gamble their income away. Not gambling at a casino but sending a check to the IRS. Who knows where it goes after that. You might as well throw your money out of a helicopter. You have a better chance of knowing where that money is going.

When a parasite lives off a host it takes enough food from the host without killing it. Because if the host dies the parasite dies. Gov't might take a lesson from the parasite. Don't kill off the private sector. The income stops if it does.

Here are some interesting notes about taxes:

• To get the Great Pyramid built, the Pharaoh King Khufu told anyone who helped build the pyramid they would have to the option not to pay any taxes while building the pyramid. Or they could get a wage. Historians are debating which it was. Makes you wonder what the ancient Egyptians taxes were. [read more]
• Quran 9:29, "Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission." Sounds like Mohammad was a gangster. A protective tax? Isn't that extortion?
• Legend has it that Lady Godiva rode naked on her horse to protest her husband's oppressive taxes. Evidently just talking to him did no good. Even then men and women had communication problems.
• Before the Revolutionary War, the colonial government had only a limited need for revenue, while each of the colonies had greater responsibilities and thus greater revenue needs, which they met with different types of taxes. Those were called the good old days. [read more]

And here is some interesting quotes about taxes (these people sound like militia men especially that Heinlein dude, and that Paine guy):

• He who builds a better mousetrap these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount discrimination--and taxes. -- H. E. Martz
• If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep. -- Will Rogers
• When there's a single thief, it's robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it's taxation. -- Vanya Cohen
• Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. -- Robert Heinlein
• What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue. -- Thomas Paine
• We are told that this is an odious and unpopular tax. I never knew a tax that was not odious and unpopular with the people who paid it. -- John Sherman
• Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. -- Author unknown, from a Washington Post word contest

You can also read my blog from 2007 on taxes. It discusses the Flat Tax and the Fair Tax + some other stuff.