Sunday, February 10, 2013

The Tax Man


It has been a long time since I have attempted a blog entry.  After spending six months of my life mostly in Europe working on the Mariner of the Seas, it was difficult enough just
to get basic things accomplished much less finding the time to formulate an opinion based upon a set of Europeans views.  I do know that the value of the American dollar was paltry when in combat with the Euro.  In a kindred occurrence the European Union proved itself to be more of a hindrance to a better quality of life.  The creation of the Euro in retrospect largely was responsible for much of the economic instability that emerged.  Proponents rallied a preservation of their native currencies would have been a wiser choice.  Governments make mistakes and that currently is glaringly obvious in the United States.  I can’t remember a time when our set of elected officials seems to be more incapable, unwilling, and self-serving.  After four years of hints of immigration reform, out of the blue at the beginning of President Obama’s second elected term comes the news that legislation now actually will be proposed.  In light of the recent school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, it seems the now expired ban on assault weapons would be a more prudent priority.  Instead Republicans decided they could just not lose the Latino vote in 2016.  Hillary may prove to be too viable as a democratic candidate.  It is almost sickening to see our government in action today.
As with the steady purposeful decline in public education, so too have the skills and intellect of our elected lawmakers become dull and vague escaping to a comfy place of money laundering for the recent American economic meltdown.  Our politicians with their Wall Street sponsors are so deeply in bed with each other, it seems America’s money never will be found.  General Electric, probably the world’s most powerful corporation, continues to laugh in the face of the American public paying nothing in income taxes.  How is this possible?  Instead this year with almost exactly the same amount of income as 2010, I am getting back half as much money.  What the @#$%?  Were Bush’s expiring tax cuts responsible for the federal government picking my low earning income pocket?  The only logical solution for re-infusing the economy is to find America’s money and begin to re-circulate it.  That means G.E. and the rich will have to accept their responsibility of subsidizing our government.  That responsibility certainly cannot continue to be placed upon the working poor and middle class.  It seems our recognized and documented process of government has sprouted almost as many malignant tumors as citizens dying from cancerous cell mutation from electro-magnetic radiation.  We are just @#$%ed up.  Plain and simply being at war in three different foreign countries is what broke our bank.  Still the Dick Cheney’s of the world through their Halliburtons continue to to suggest America’s economy is stronger while we are at war.  “Bomb them and we will fix it, for a price.”  This strategy has proven to be an utter failure as publicly known George Bush was not able to get Iraq’s valuable crude oil.  We don’t really know to this day if that is the case.  We got the hell out of dodge and as Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly on media directed, they swept it under the rug.  With the falling of the Wall Street Journal into his hands, the last chapter in America’s honest, viable, news reporting draws to a close.  It’s all spin.  I cannot even read any of the web’s popular news sites anymore.  It’s all about gaming and selling advertising and iPhones to America’s adolescents.  Is seems a parallel has occurred between the fall of our government and the agencies that are supposed to canvass them.  Again we are @#$%ed.  Americans just tool away, but I’m not sure anyone really is happy, except the rich.  They have our money and are enjoying a pina colada on the beach in Grand Caymen.  It would seem the recent release of Les Mis more readily could be applied to an imminent social change in America.  Indeed television certainly is enjoying a grassroots Renaissance exposing the more viable and down to earth trade practices of a more viable America.  Can it actually be that, “Jobs are coming back from Asia?”  With the death of entrepreneur Steve Jobs Apple once again is unguided.  That large slave camp in China where people kill themselves trying to escape has become too large a carbuncle on Apple’s face.  The news was announced that manufacturing was returning to the U.S.  Maybe it has something to do with the state of China’s air and their overpopulation.  Did I mention they are Communist?  None of it makes any sense.  While I was a supporter of Bill Clinton, most people don’t know that his major campaign intent was to allow every citizen of the United States to purchase and own their own home.  While I bit on this bait, and I feel it seemed wise and prudent, that intent became the beginning of the housing bubble and our economy’s subsequent meltdown.  That is when the shrewd occupants of Wall Street decided to make that intent a reality.  They began offering mortgages to everyone whether their credit scores were approved or not.  The real estate industry immediately almost overnight raised prices on homes to an almost uncanny level.  I watched this happen in Columbus Ohio.  The new homes that were being built were of poor quality materials, but the bubble was on!  The pooling of those sub-prime mortgages creating hedge funds sealed our economy’s fate many years later.  While Bill Clinton did construct the Dayton Accords all but solving the Bosnian Conflict, this good intention grossly was misshapen by the likes of Bernie Madoff and his Wall Street chronies.  None of this economic activity effects me except that for some reason I only am getting back HALF of the tax refund I received two years ago with the same income.  I guess they were right when they said it really will get you in the pocketbook.  I can’t help but think that what seems like a low flying reconnaissance drone above our neighborhood has something to do with it.