NT (kind of sort of)

[Cathy]

This is too true to be very funny....

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spendingYOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It' s amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Tax his land,

Tax his wage,

Tax his bed in which he lays.

Tax his tractor,

Tax his mule,

Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow,

Tax his goat,

Tax his pants,

Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,

Tax his shirts,

Tax his work,

Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,

Tax his drink,

Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,

Tax his beers,

If he cries,

Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,

Tax his gas,

Tax his notes,

Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know

That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,

Tax him more,

Tax hi m until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,

Tax his grave,

Tax the sod in which he lays.

Put these words upon his tomb,

'Taxes drove me to my doom!'

And when he's gone,

We won't relax,

We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax

Building Permit Tax

CDL License Tax

Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Dog License Tax

Federal Income Tax

Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

Fishing License Tax

Food License Tax

Fuel Perm it Tax

Gasoline Tax

Hunting License Tax

Inheritance Tax

Inventory Tax

IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),

IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),

Liquor Tax,

Luxury Tax,

Marriage License Tax,

Medicare Tax,

Property Tax,

Real Estate Tax,

Service charge taxes,

Social Security Tax,

Road Usage Tax (Truckers),

Sales Taxes,

Recrea tional Vehicle Tax,

School Tax,

State Income Tax,

State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),

Telephone Federal Excise Tax,

Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,

Telephone Federal, State and Local Su rcharge Tax,

Telephone Minimum Usage Su rcharge Tax,

Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,

Telephone State and Local Tax,

Telephone Usage Charge Tax,

Utility Tax,

Vehicle License Registration Tax,

Vehicle Sales Tax,

Watercraft Registration Tax,

Well Permit Tax,

Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to 'press 1' for English.

What the hell happened?????

BIG GOVERNMENT "happened"

[Julie]

The bottom part is simply false, as you'd notice if you had studied that list of taxes which "did not exist" 100 years ago.

Many of these taxes are local taxes, which existed then as well as now.

Some of these were taxed by the federal government then, like alcohol and tobacco.

Others are taxes on things that were rare then, like vehicles and telephones. (Remember the telephone tax rebate last year? That was for the Spanish American War.)

Some are for services that we might not wish to abolish, like worker's compensation insurance and paved roads. Now, call me a liberal if you like, but I don't really want to live in the 19th century. I heard enough from my grandparents to know that some things are better now.

And it doesn't even mention the federal government's other big source of income, which has mostly been abolished only recently: Tariffs. The first taxes passed by Congress in the 18th century were tariffs.

[kcjenkins]

The 'Billion' part is excellent, and would stand much better by itself. Second part is full of errors or half-truths.

[SCL]

this is the type of (waaaaaaaaaaay too long of an effort) that could get me to change my vote to a seperate NT forum.

use good judgement. don't cut and paste, esp when the bottom line is bogus/urban legend crap.

[kcjenkins]

Speaking of way too long, please don't include the way too long original quote with your nice pithy response, unless it is waaaaay down the page. And if you do include a quote, consider if you can trim the quote down to just the relevant part you are responding to.

[Cathy]

Thanks for your replies....I needed a good laugh this morning! Geeeez, I do hope all of you got some rest this weekend.