Death and Taxes

The two 'certain' things
Mutually exclusive
In Austin's headlines.


I'm sure you've heard about the guy that flew a plane into the IRS office building in Austin last week.  Having read his diatribe at TSG, I can't but feel just a little bit sorry for the guy.  Don't get me wrong, there's no excuse for what he did- flying his plane into the IRS building was horribly cruel and totally stupid.  It won't even draw crocodile tears from the corrupt millionaires in Washington who made the convoluted tax rules that drove Joe Stack to his wit's end.  Life goes on, for them anyway.

Plenty of rich people get by without paying their taxes, because they can not only afford powerful attorneys who can twist the self-contradicting labyrinth of laws in their favor, but they also make a lot of campaign contributions, which is a politically correct term for 'legal bribe' in America.  That trick doesn't work for the average John Doe who struggles to make his mortgage payment.

Those of us who lay low and 'give unto Caesar what is Caesar's" without bothering to demand an explanation as to why 'Caesar's plan has to be so complicated that no one can begin to understand it all don't usually get hassled by the IRS.  It's too bad that the voice of the "American People," which both parties claim they can discern clearly while hearing totally different things, is indiscernable above the one clear voice that all politicians take heed to- calling from the pockets of the elite.  Money talks, friend.

If you don't take time to read the whole thing, the last lines of Joe Stack's manifesto left us with something to ponder:

"The Communist Creed:  From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The Capitalist Creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed."

Right and left wing ideology aside, why do we tolerate Washington?