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Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed

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Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

The Simple Answer Is Not Always Correct

Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed - Senate Voting ChartIf the why makes no difference to you, we could simply say, they didn’t have the votes, blame it on the all powerful NRA lobbyist and be done with it. However, reality is rarely as simple as it seems.

Ever since the events at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on 14 December 2012, there has been a constant drum beat in the “Liberal Media” for more “gun control” legislation. It has been like having “Kentucky Fried Chicken” for dinner night after night after night. Though it is probably not very healthy, I do enjoy a bucket of KFC on occasion. I like cake and ice cream too. However, if I knew that each night, I was going to have KFC followed by ice cream and cake, I’d begin dreading coming to dinner.

We all – those of us with hearts – bleed whenever innocent children are victims of senseless violence. Those of us who are parents – indeed I’ve personally lost a child to murder – marvel at the fortitude of the parents who lost their children to this senseless tragedy. I can tell you right now, I would never be able to stand before a camera and speak intelligently had my child been a victim. I just could not do it.

Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed - Emilie Parker

Poster Child for a tragedy or the marketing of an agenda?

In fact, I am a little offended by the news media as well as political interests, using these parents at a time when they are still wrapped in the fog of their grief, to advance a political agenda. Although there were 26 victims, the media has pretty much settled on the image of little Emilie Parker to be their “poster child” for this tragedy. Blond hair, blue eyes and an infectious smile, I can certainly see why from an advertising and marketing perspective, why they would make such a choice. However, that is the problem isn’t it? Advertising and Marketing. What are they using her to sell us? What about the other victims? Unless you’ve been to a web site or seen a program where they show all their faces, you probably have no idea what they look like. Yet, they died too. Their families are shattered too.

Brady Law Provisions

If we are going to talk about background checks, it might be nice to know what the current law is. Most people who have never purchased or who do not own a firearm, might be surprised to know that all firearms purchases through licensed dealers – gun stores – are automatically subjected to a federal background check. This includes sells made by licensed dealers at gun shows! I’m sure you’ve seen the news stories of people purchasing firearms at what you’re told is a gun show, apparently without a background check. The angle of the camera is such that you’re given the impression that the transaction is being taped by a hidden camera. Remember the admonition to “believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.”

March 30, 1981 there was an assassination attempt on then President Ronald Reagan. His press secretary, James Brady was shot in the head but thankfully survived. Considering the extent of inter-cranial damage he sustained, his recovery has been truly remarkable. As a result of this tragedy, his wife and he – not unlike the Gabby Gifford and her husband – formed a gun control PAC and lobbied the United States Congress successfully to pass stringent gun control laws. The “Brady Laws” were the result of their efforts. A national instant background check system was put in place, run by the FBI. Here are some of the provisions that already exist today. The Federally prohibiting criteria are as follows:

  • A person who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year or any state offense classified by the state as a misdemeanor and is punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than two years.
  • Persons who are fugitives of justice—for example, the subject of an active felony or misdemeanor warrant.
  • An unlawful user and/or an addict of any controlled substance; for example, a person convicted for the use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year; or a person with multiple arrests for the use or possession of a controlled substance within the past five years with the most recent arrest occurring within the past year; or a person found through a drug test to use a controlled substance unlawfully, provided the test was administered within the past year.
  • A person adjudicated mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution or incompetent to handle own affairs, including dispositions to criminal charges of found not guilty by reason of insanity or found incompetent to stand trial.
  • A person who, being an alien, is illegally or unlawfully in the United States.
  • A person who, being an alien except as provided in subsection (y) (2), has been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa.
  • A person dishonorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces
  • A person who has renounced his/her United States citizenship
  • The subject of a protective order issued after a hearing in which the respondent had notice that restrains them from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such partner. This does not include ex parte orders.
  • A person convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime which includes the use or attempted use of physical force or threatened use of a deadly weapon and the defendant was the spouse, former spouse, parent, guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited in the past with the victim as a spouse, parent, guardian or similar situation to a spouse, parent or guardian of the victim.
  • A person who is under indictment or information for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

This information is already contained in the FBI’s database and is available usually within 30 seconds. Remember, by law every firearms sell through a licensed dealer is submitted to the FBI’s instant background check database. This law was passed by the 103rd Congress, it was signed into law by Bill Clinton November 30, 1993 and went into effect February 28, 1994. It is the current law of the land.

What Is The “Gun Show Loophole?”

No doubt you’ve heard this phrase bandied about quite a bit of late. The anti-gun movement would have you believe that all anyone has to do is wait for a gun show in their area and walk in and purchase whatever type of firearm they want. I even heard someone claim on a national news show, that you can go into a gun show and purchase a full auto machine gun without even having to show any identification. Not only was this just plain ignorant, it was deplorable journalism. This claim could have been put to the lie by simply making a phone call to any gun dealer in the phone book. It certainly sounded sensational though!

What they’re calling the “gun show loophole” is in essence an individual sale between two persons neither of whom is a licensed gun dealer. You might just as correctly call it the “McDonald’s loophole” or perhaps the “Facebook loophole.” Two people can meet virtually anywhere, get to talking about firearms when one of them mentions they have a firearm for sell and the other agrees to purchase it. This doesn’t have to occur at a gun show.

What most people do not realize – take the Indy 1500 gun show for instance – not every person sitting behind a table selling their products is selling guns or is a licensed firearms dealer. The “Indy 1500 gun show boasts it has 1500 tables. Some people are selling knives, camping gear, books, military memorabilia such as medals and patches. There are even people selling fishing equipment. Depending on the rules of the show in question, if one of these persons had a personal firearm they were interested in selling, you could see it sitting on their table. As a private individual, they are not bound by the laws a licensed firearms dealer is. They are a private individual just like you and I. So if when you see a video clip of someone purchasing a firearm at a gun show without a background check – assuming you’re not viewing a staged re-creation – this is what you’re seeing. The same transaction could have occurred at the McDonald’s across the street.

Should Personal Firearms Sells Be Subject To Background Checks?

Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed - Background Check Tax

A Tax by any other name.

Good question! How exactly would you enforce that? I have a .22 caliber single shot rifle that was my grandfather’s. It was passed down to me by my father. I will probably pass it down to my son. There is no paperwork on it and as far as I know, there never has been any paperwork on it. As far as the ATF is concerned, this firearm does not exist. It is a family heirloom. Yes it fires and is in good working order. When I decide to gift one of my sons with this rifle, what are the odds we will go into a licensed dealer and pay the tax – that’s what it is – to have it entered into the system and federal background check run? I’ll tell you. The odds are slim to none and Slim left town.

Trying to enforce such a provision in the law would be nearly impossible. The expense would make enforcing such a law prohibitive. We simply do not have the manpower required in local, State or Federal law enforcement for such an undertaking. So whom are we kidding? Did I mention “Sequestration?”

Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed

After reading through the provisions of the Brady Law which is current law, what exactly would you like to see added to that? Remember, we’re not talking about an “assault weapons ban” or an “extended magazine ban,” we’re only talking about background checks. Most reasonable people would conclude, the problem is not that we need a new law. If there is a problem, the problem is with enforcement. Any additional laws passed would face the exact same problem. Laws are meaningless if they’re not enforced or impossible to enforce. We call it “The Honor System.”

Why Senate Background Check Bill Failed - Masturbation KitSenators generally like their jobs. They want to keep them. People feel strongly on both sides of the gun issue. I would give the edge to the pro-gun side. They tend to have longer memories and they do vote. When you’re asking a Senator to put their careers on the line and make a principled vote, it must be meaningful. Simply engaging in what amounts to political masturbation won’t fly. Ultimately, it is an insult to the victims of gun violence. It is passing a law that actually does nothing, and is designed to shut them up and make them go away.

It is worse than most people know. Mother Jones has an excellent expose` on this fact. Senators Joe Manchin (D) and Pat Toomey (R) put their heads together to come up with an amended Bill that they thought would have a chance of passing. The problem is, if anything it weakened current Brady laws. Here are some of their amended provisions from the Mother Jones website:

  • Exempts many sales from background checks: The bill doesn’t alter current laws exempting background checks for gun transfers between friends and families. It also wouldn’t require checks for other private sales if the guns weren’t “advertised.” That weakens the effectiveness of background check reform in a big way.
  • Leaves open a gun-show loophole: Because of the private sales exemption, the bill doesn’t entirely close the so-called gun-show loophole, as UCLA law professor Adam Winkler notes. Someone looking to buy a gun could find a private seller and “agree to meet after the show at a convenient location and make the sale, with no background check.”
  • May exempt background checks in some rural areas: As part of their effort to woo rural senators, Manchin and Toomey may add a measure allowing dealers who live more than 100 miles away from a licensee to skip background checks.
  • Exempts background checks for concealed-carry permit holders: Gun buyers who got a concealed-carry permit within the past five years wouldn’t have to undergo background checks for commercial sales.
  • Reduces the time the FBI has to block a sale: Current law gives the FBI 72 business hours to block a sale by a licensed dealer at a gun show if the buyer’s background check is flagged. The bill would reduce that to 48 hours and, after four years, reduce it again to 24 hours. The FBI would still have to destroy information about the buyer’s identity within 24 hours after a sale.
  • Allows the interstate sale of handguns: Currently, licensed dealers can only sell rifles and shotguns across state lines. The bill would expand that to include handguns. Licensed dealers would also be allowed to sell guns to other dealers at gun shows outside of their home state.
  • Weakens laws that restrict transporting guns across state lines: The bill would establish a federal regulation protecting lawful gun owners from arrest when they cross state lines with their firearm, which would weaken laws in states with tighter state and local regulations.
  • Expands legal immunity to private sellers: In 2005, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prevents victims of gun violence from suing gun manufacturers and dealers for negligence. The Manchin-Toomey bill would expand that immunity to private gun sellers who don’t have a commercial license.
  • Makes a national gun registry even less likely than before: Senators like Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are still warning that the bill is a step toward a national gun registry—even though it would punish people who try to create one with up to 15 years in prison.
  • Expands gun rights for veterans in questionable condition: Current law prohibits veterans from buying guns if the Department of Veterans Affairs considers them “‘mentally incompetent’ to manage their own funds,” after which they are put into the national background check database. The Manchin-Toomey bill would allow veterans unfit to manage their funds to continue buying guns while they appealed the VA’s decision, and expand the ability of veterans already in the system to file appeals to have their name removed. It would also overturn a law that bans members of the military from buying guns sold by dealers in their home state. (These Points are directly from the Mother Jones website)

Thus, if you were a Senator, willing to put your career on the line to cast a principled vote, this is not the hill you’d want to die on. Why did the Senate Background Check Bill Fail? It added absolutely nothing to the existing Brady Laws, if anything it weakened them. If the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, all your problems seem to look like nails. When you’re a legislator, your first response is to pass a new law. Really? How many laws do we need? Murdering people is already illegal. Even with the threat of the death penalty, it hasn’t seemed to stop murders from occurring.

Gun violence is a symptom of a problem within our society. 24 hours a day we are bombarded by the media with stories designed and tailor made to instil fear in society. From global warming to an asteroid potentially ending life on Earth at any moment, to Yellowstone erupting, North Korea starting a nuclear war, to a fertilizer factory exploding and wiping out a neighborhood. We are being fed a steady diet designed to create fear and panic. In this atmosphere, you’re telling people that they don’t need firearms to keep them safe? That is a heavy lift and a tough sell. Did I mention terrorist running and gunning through your neighborhood, shooting it out with the Police?

Should we tax churches?

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A Crystal Cathedral?

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” First Amendment – U.S. Constitution

From this “Amendment” the entire doctrine of the separation between Church and State is drawn. Read it carefully. It says nothing about taxation. It also mentions the “Press.” If one may infer a tax exempt status for Churches, based on this Amendment, Fox News, MSNBC, The New York Times et al, should also get in line for their tax exempt statuses.

Historically, churches being exempt from taxation goes all the way back to the Roman Emperor Constantine. Following his conversion to Christianity it is said he exempted all Christian churches from taxation. This practice continued through the middle ages largely because it was believed the work churches did in caring for the poor and needy relieved the burden on the government. Back then, this was probably a valid assumption.

From the founding of this Nation, churches were not taxed and received a formal exemption from taxation in 1894. Prior to this no less than three Presidents, Madison, Garfield and Grant had called for taxing churches pointing out that by the early 1900’s these tax exemptions had cost the American taxpayer 1 billion dollars. Imagine what that has grown to today.

When people and institutions do not pay their fare share, be they the 1% or multi-billion dollar, international corporations like GE, the taxpayer is footing the costs. The common roads, the infrastructure, emergency services are not free. The taxes these institutions are not paying get defrayed amongst those who are paying. Put another way, your taxes are increased by some percentage because of loopholes, tax evasion or unmerited tax exemptions our government grants to various institutions.

[KJV] Philippians 2:7 
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

When it comes to churches, things have gotten out of hand. Rather

Paula White’s Rolls Royce in front of her Italian home

than following in the footsteps of Jesus, pastors are emulating the titans of corporate greed. They do not measure their success by how many people they help or how many lives they make better, wealth = success. Not just wealth, but conspicuous wealth. As a rule, Americans have no problem with wealth. If you’ve been extremely successful financially, more power to you. However, how you make that wealth does make a difference.  For instance, we have no problem with the financial success of a Bill Gates, a Warren Buffett or a Steve Jobs. However, we do take issue with the head of a Columbian drug cartel’s opulent lifestyle. Why? Because he makes his wealth off the misery, death and destruction of people who are addicted to a product that is killing them and destroying their lives and the communities in which they live.

Coronation of Eddie Long

But preachers are not drug dealers! Let’s examine this. Religion has indeed become a product which is being marketed to the public. Like insurance, it is sold to you as an “Eternal Assurance Policy.” It is an intangible product. You cannot touch it, taste it or smell it. It makes you feel a certain way to be sure. However, you do not know if what you’ve paid for is real until after you die. No customer has ever been able to return and ask for a refund. Not from any church. Not from any denomination. They cannot all be right. Thus, some groups must be in error and those who embraced those faiths surely must have gotten their feelings hurt once they crossed into the afterlife. Everybody cannot be right. Somebody has to be wrong. If everybody is right, What’s the point in having different denominations?

While there are faith based charitable organizations that actually do

make a difference such as, “The Salvation Army,” “World Vision,”

Creflo Dollar’s Private Jet

“Bread for the World,” compared to proliferation of “mega-Churches,” these organizations are a drop in the bucket. Mega-Churches and their pastors have become profit driven silos of greed. If the pastor has a Rolls Royce… or two, a private jet, a multi-million dollar estate, I’m going to want to see an even greater investment in programs designed to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and care for the sick.

One of Paula White’s Homes

When the housing market was in full meltdown mode and home foreclosures were spiralling out of control. The members of these mega-churches were hit as hard as everyone else. You did not hear any news stories suggesting that those who tithed, donated and supported the lavish lifestyles of their pastors were somehow blessed or exempt from the economic chaos facing secular society. Something else you did not hear was, how any of these mega-churches came to the rescue of their struggling parishioners. You did not hear about churches stepping up to help those who’d donated thousands of dollars over the years, keep their homes.  If these wealthy mega-churches did not rise to the occasion and help their own members, what type of commitment do they have to social programs that feed, clothe and shelter those who are unable to donate to their operations?

Separation is a two-way street

“Good fences make good neighbours.” __Robert Frost

If you don’t want me getting into your business, stay the hell out of mine! Over the past few decades we’ve seen an exponential growth in church activism. No longer is it enough for them to preach and promote their doctrines to their congregations or to those who choose to tune into them over the airwaves. Now they are bent on seizing the legislative power of government to force people who do not subscribe to their views, to live by those views. Now we have a problem.

They tested the water years ago with what are known as “blue laws.” In many States across this nation you cannot buy liquor on Sundays. The secular public has by and large accommodated this nonsense. We just buy our liquor on Saturday. Annoying? Yes, but in most places, not annoying enough to mount a campaign to change the law. Emboldened by the apparent apathy of secular society they’ve now decided to flex their muscles and  not just weigh in on various issues, but are donating money and motivating their parishioners to take sometimes violent action in an effort to force society to conform to church dogma.

Murdered in Church

While one might argue that church membership makes a prima facie case for mental instability, certainly telling unstable parishioners that doctors who perform abortions are murderers is tantamount to loading the gun, putting it in their hand and pointing them in the direction of the nearest abortion services clinic with a blessing from God. Once reason and rationality is replaced with self-righteous faith, the surrealistic irony cannot be grasped by the misguided missiles they’ve released. If abortion is murder and murder is forbidden by God, then murdering an abortion provider makes you just as deserving of God’s judgement as the person you’re murdering.

There is also the oxymoron of promoting an omnipotent God who is involved in all aspects of human affairs but whom for some reason needs and requires human beings to do his dirty work. If God wants someone dead, why does he need me, you or anyone else to kill them for him? Couldn’t God simply take their next breath? Their next heartbeat? How is this any different than some radical Islamic Imam convincing his followers to strap on a bomb vest and go detonate themselves so they can enter paradise? If the Imam truly believed his message, he wouldn’t be present to deliver it because he would have already blown himself into paradise.

Mormons rally against Prop-8

Abortion is not the only issue churches want to weigh in on. They also have taken an issue with what we do in the privacy of our homes and in our private relationships. Irony of ironies the Mormon church actually donated millions of dollars to defeat “Prop-8” in California. A group who’s hallmark was redefining “Marriage” fought tooth and fang to prevent the redefining of marriage. It is difficult to imagine the level of delusion necessary to make sense of group who’s very tenets of faith originally taught that men must have multiple wives in order to enter heaven, forming their mouths to defend “traditional marriage.” Surely their lips must have split!

It is one thing to promote the tenets of one’s faith to those who have embraced that faith. It is quite another to mobilize and attempt to enact laws to force the rest of society to conform to your particular brand of religion.

Christian Terrorism

Terry Jones promoting burning of Qur’ans

What happens when promoting your twisted theology causes the deaths of American Service Personnel? In 2010 Nit-Wit Florida pastor Terry Jones thought it would be a dandy idea to promote what he called, “Burn a Qur’an Day.” Because – possibly by design – this message made it on to YouTube and around the Internet, it was eventually seen in Islamic countries where American forces are stationed. As you might expect, Muslim fundamentalist were not too pleased with this idea. The result? Embassies were attacked and people died. 20 in just one attack in Afghanistan. Good idea? Not if your son or daughter is currently stationed over there.

How much did this cost the U.S. Taxpayer? I do not know. If it was your child that got killed because of this, what price would you place on his or her life? Security at American Embassies had to be increased. Battle groups were moved into the area. Air support was increased and you and I had to foot the bill through increased taxes. Didn’t notice your taxes go up? When money is directed away from the services you are receiving, you’re getting less for what you’ve paid. This amounts to an increase in the cost of what you’re paying for.

Children being raised to hate

If this weren’t enough, to add insult to injury – literally – upon trying to bury our sons and daughters who gave their last measure of devotion, families have had to contend with the shenanigans of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. They literally bussed people to the graveside services of our fallen soldiers to picket the ceremonies by hurling such epithets as “God Hates Fags” and “We’re Glad Your Dead.” Of course the sexual orientation of the fallen is never considered. Doesn’t matter that our dead sons and daughters were straight. The fact they serve in our military which – through no fault of their own – no longer discriminates on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation, is enough. If you don’t hate “Fags” as much as Fred Phelps, you’re just as guilty and on your way to hell too!

Church and taxation – the facts

When we exempt churches from paying taxes, we the taxpayers are

Creflo Dollar’s Estate

giving them free money. We have done this under the aegis that they would use these benefits for the betterment of society and in fulfilling the philosophical mission of the historical Jesus. Clearly this has not been the case. Not only have they grown fat from the largesse of the  American tax payer, they are now using this wealth to socially engineer society back to the medieval period we refer to as the “Dark Ages.”

Not long ago I had a preacher tell me to “stay in my lane.” I promptly informed her that as a devout Agnostic I have no lane. Clearly she had forgotten we were not in her church and she was not in her pulpit. What had led to our interaction was her spouting her inability to vote for President Obama because of religious reasons. She didn’t like the fact that he was not willing to break his oath to uphold the Constitution and thought he ought to ban abortions by an “executive order.”

Of course the fact that the other candidate is a bishop in a church that teaches that God has endless celestial sex with his thousands of wives, made her no never mind. The belief that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers? Hardly even a speed bump. When I pointed out these flagrant contradictions to the faith she claims to hold, she quickly switched to the “Gay Marriage” issue. She is not an unintelligent woman which is why I did not let her off the hook. We are not electing the titular head of a religious institution. The United States is not a theocracy. Although the President when taking the “Oath of Office” placed his hand atop a Bible, he did so while affirming his obligation to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Provision in the Constitution ensure equal rights and equal protections under our laws. There are no exceptions for race, creed, gender or sexual orientation. These people will cry loudly and spare not when it comes to the evils and corruption of our government yet in the same breath want our government to intrude it’s self into our most intimate and private moments.

It was not lost on me that this was one of those pastors who owns a $200 thousand dollar automobile and resides in a multi-million dollar estate. It was then I had my epiphany! She was not voting her religious convictions, she was voting her own economic interests. Understandable except for the part where she was using her office to persuade others barely scraping by, to vote in lock step with her under the guise of the issues being religious in nature.

We take a dim view of this type of behaviour which is why official political commercials always have the phrase, “I (candidate’s name) approve of this message.” This is to let those hearing the commercial know who is behind the commercial and what their biases may be. If churches want to get involved in government, they need to stop pretending and pay their taxes like every other institution.

I’ll be fair. If they can show conclusively that they’ve given to their communities in actual dollar value the amount they would be assessed in taxes, we can allow them to write off those taxes against their contributions. I suspect we won’t have nearly as many oversized, expensive churches surrounding by low income housing.

Taxation without Representation

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How Republicans Are Secretly Raising YOUR Taxes!

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Back in 1776 this nation – to be – fought a little war. You might have heard about it. It was called “The Revolutionary War.” A little upstart Colony shed blood to separate and break away from the greatest “superpower” the world had seen at that time. Great Britain.

There were many reasons for this, but the prevailing expressed reason had to do with “taxation without representation.” On the surface, this is a slogan that is easily remembered and understood. Say it a few times. Notice how it rolls off the tongue. It is almost rhythmic like a chant. “Taxation Without Representation.”

When you actually consider things, representation doesn’t mean you get what you want or that things will go your way. Growing up, I was represented and present at many family decisions. I did NOT get my way.

Who does really get their way? As a child, I thought adults always got their way. I look back now and laugh. The point is, when you study history, you find that many of the “founding fathers” spent quite a bit of time in Europe representing the issues and concerns of our fledgling colony. Evidently, they did not get what they wanted. One might suspect the real issues that lead to the Revolutionary War had little to do with taxation, but taxation was a useful meme for galvanizing public sentiment against Britain.

This meme is still being used today to herd the unthinking in the direction beneficial to those who own the Republican party. The question? Is this any more accurate today than it was in 1776?

ALL governments, good or oppressive collect revenues from the citizens they rule over. This has been a fact since humans bought into the idea that having a person – tribal chieftain or king – rule over them and organize the collective effort, was a good idea. People have been complaining and seeking to avoid paying taxes ever since.

A tax is the taking of a portion of the wealth of the citizen. We’ve refined that process to the point we are now paying taxes we are not even aware we’re paying. Many taxes are simply passed along in the prices of the goods and services we purchase. Because they are a part of the price, we don’t perceive them as taxes, yet we pay them without a whimper. This phenomena has not gone unnoticed.

The Republicans have been raising your taxes at a staggering rate without your notice. They use two primary tools to accomplish their theft. They are, “Privatization” and “Deregulation.”

How does this work? Our government is not in the business of turning a profit. It is a “not-for-profit” institution. The taxes the government collects, whether you believe them to be mismanaged, depending on a certain administration, still go to support the collective common good. If you are old enough, when you went to school there were no textbook rental fees. Paper and pencils were supplied to each student. The only thing I paid for was my lunch on the few days I didn’t bring it with me. Teachers were respected and taught well in an environment conducive to learning. This was all paid for by taxes.

Over the years they’ve been defunding our educational system. We now see the goal was to move everyone to a charter school model where parents pay tuition. Notice, your taxes never went down. Now you’re being forced to totally shoulder the cost for educating your children. Is this a tax? You cannot simply opt out of sending your children to school. That’s against the law. So, yes you’re now being forced to pay more. Vouchers from the State do not cover the costs. So, the Republican attack on education is a hidden tax.

Do you have representation? Charter Schools are privately owned corporate entities. You really do not have representation. This is the definition of taxation without representation. I’ve given one example of how privatization affects many people.

Privatization is not limited to our educational system. Utility companies, hospitals, the TSA, privatization is happening all around us. Most people know something is terribly wrong with our country. What they fail to realize is that when patriotism was at it’s highest, when people felt the most optimistic about their opportunity to fulfill the “American Dream” was when our government was exercising control and collecting higher taxes, much higher than the tax rates of today.

The other poison pill of the Republican agenda is Deregulation. The theory goes, corporations are so loaded down with regulations and red tape they cannot be as profitable as their competitors around the globe. In order to make the moves and the profits they must get rid of regulations. In essence this is a race to the bottom. Our companies can easily make products as cheap as the Chinese.

There are rivers in China that are filled with toxic sludge. China has to purchase drinking water from other nations. The quality of their products are substandard. Some have been fatal. Remember our experience with dog food imported from China? How about the lead in children’s toys or that toxic toothpaste they were exporting? These are the results of a lack of regulation.

The BP oil spill was the result of a lack of regulation. All those people affected by that oil spill? The ones who lost their businesses or that saw their profits drop? That was a tax levied upon them by Republican policy. Wealth was forcibly transferred from them, their families and the futures of their children. Did they have representation?

Do you have a pension? Do you own a 401k? Have you checked it’s value lately? Chances are, it has taken quite a hit. This is the direct effect of the Republican policy of deregulating the Banks and the Stock Market. The money you and your family have lost is a tax. The wealth was transferred from you into the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. Did you have representation? That is a tax. Republicans won’t call these taxes. They want you to focus on money paid to our Government for the common good. This money is managed by people you get to vote in or out of office every two years.

When Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase announced a couple of weeks ago that Chase Bank had lost – now – 4 billion dollars on the same type of bet Banks and the Stock Market were making just prior to our near financial melt down of 2008, my portfolio took a 100 thousand dollar hit. Now that was one helluva tax! You may have fared better. However, chances are if you’ve got a 401k or a pension you have some Chase stock in it as well. You just paid taxes without representation.