License to Steal
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Lauri Anne Jacobs
License to steal sounds crazy to begin with, because stealing is illegal. If you sit back and think about our government, it does not sound like such a crazy thing. They seem to have endless ways to take what is not theirs. As government continues to get bigger and bigger, it gets greedier and greedier with no limit to what it will take from the working middle class. The same class of people they take the most from are the very people who carry this country and keep this country going. This applies to all levels of government, whether it is federal, state, or local. After all, when you are spending someone else’s money, it is easy to be a frivolous spender.
Licensing is one of many examples. While the government has a free pass or “license to steal” from the taxpayers, we must purchase license for every little thing. While some forms of license are good and needed, many are not. Here is a term to think about: Licensing Liberty. “No state shall convert a liberty into a license and charge a fee therefore” (Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105. 1943). “If the state converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity” (Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, Alabama, 373 U.S. 262. 1969). That is clearly stated, yet the government is constantly implementing new licenses and regulations on everything we do. I do not believe you should have to obtain a license to cut hair, give massages, sell real estate, or be a contractor. If they are not good at what they do, they will naturally be weeded out. The 2nd amendment gives us the constitutional right to bear arms, so why are we required to obtain a license to exercise our right and liberty? That is just a few examples.
Taxation is the other way the government steals from us. I understand we need some to keep things going, but the level at which the working man and property owners are taxed is downright robbery. We are essentially slaves to the government. In Genesis 47, the Egyptians became servants to Pharaoh after handing over their land and possessions in exchange for food during the famine. They were required to pay 20 percent of their crops to Pharaoh from that point forward. Pharaoh ended up owning their land. Joseph allowed them to work the land they once owned, so they became tenant farmers on their land. Fast forward to today, and the median U.S. taxpayer pays 24.8 percent income tax along with 7.65 percent FICA taxes. On his or her taxed income, he or she pays sales tax, property tax, gas tax, and many other taxes and fees. We do not really own our property. It is the same as renting it from the government, because if you do not pay your property taxes to Pharaoh (the government) they take it from you. We are still slaves to the government. As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun.
Mark Twain compared a taxidermist and tax collectors, noting that the latter take more than skin. Will Rogers once stated that “the only difference between taxes and death is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets”. One thing is for sure: we are overtaxed and overlicensed by the government. Taxation and licensing are intertwined. When governments require a license on our liberties, it is funded by taxation and comes with the threat of force.
“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: if it moves tax it, if it keeps moving regulate it, and if it stops moving subsidize it.” – Ronald Reagan.
