Monday, April 17, 2006

The current U.S. tax code is some 66,000, yes, sixty-six-thousand, pages long. No one in this country fully understands it. very few have even read it. That includes those who are elected to represent us in Washington, D.C. This year the U.S. government will collect better than a trillion, that's 1,000,000,000,000, dollars in tax revenue. That is a number that boggles the mind.

Most people do not have any idea how much actual tax they pay each year. Most are just happy if they get a refund. By the way, a refund is just your money that the government has kept and used for a year without paying you one dime in interest. Imagine how much you could have earned on that money had you invested it in the stock market, or even put it in an interest bearing account or a CD. The tax burden on the average wage earner is now approaching fifty percent of income. That includes all local, state, federal and the hidden taxes that you pay. Don't believe me? Look it up for yourself.

It is time for a taxpayer revolt in this country. The time has come for us to tell our representatives that we expect them to work toward reforming the tax codes. If they don't do this, then it is time that they, all of them, are voted out of office. Every two years we have the chance to vote people into office who will work for us, not work for themselves, their political party, or a bunch of lobbyists.

Former Representative John Lender (GA) has written a book with talk show host Neal Boortz. It is called the Fair Tax Plan. I urge you to borrow or buy this book and read it. Then pass it on to someone else. This plan makes more sense than anything coming out of D.C. You can go to www.fairtaxplan.org, for more infromation. Please do this for yourself and for this country.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Some Interesting Bible Facts Gleaned from Here and There*

Lot was the father of his own grandchildren. (Genesis 19:30 – 38)
Nowhere in the Bible does it report that Jesus was ever sick.
It cannot be proved by reading the Bible that Jesus ever smiled.
There are seven suicides reported in the Bible. Can you name all of them?
The word prejudice is not found in the Bible.
It is prophesied in the Bible that the Lord would shave with a razor. (Isaiah 7:20)
Except for fifty-five verses all of the material found in Mark is also found in Matthew.
The Bible does not mention the potato plant.
The Bible forbids tattooing. (Leviticus 19:28)
Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse in the King James Version of the Bible.
The word sermon is not found in the King James Version of the Bible.
The Book of Esther does not contain the name of God. (KJV)
The Bible explains how to make butter. (Proverbs 30:33)
The Bible demands that Christians kiss one another. (Romans 16:16)
Jesus did not preach Christianity nor was He a Christian.
Jesus admitted that He was the Messiah only once, and that was during a private conversation. (John 4:26)
God hates seven things. Can you name them? (Proverbs 6:16 –19)
The Bible prescribes death as the penalty for kidnapping. (Exodus 21:16)
Cowards were exempt from military service in the ancient Jewish army. (Deuteronomy 20: 1, 2, 8)
The cat is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible.
At one time Jesus was very unpopular in his hometown. (Luke 4:16-29)
One-hundred and eighty-one different women are mentioned by name in the Bible.
In early Bible times two sisters became mothers of their half-brothers. (Genesis 19:30-38)
The New Testament has been translated into over 329 languages.
There are 49 different kinds of food mentioned in the Bible.
There is a recipe in the Bible for making friends. (Proverbs 18:24)

*Many are from: McKenzie, E.C., Salted Peanuts, Baker Book House, 1972, 120 p.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907. "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt 1907