Speaking of tax breaks for the rich -- take a deep breath
and do some simple math.
The top five percent of the taxpayers pay nearly half of all
federal income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent pay only about five percent
of the taxes.
For every $100 in taxes collected by the federal government
(rounded to the nearest dollar), the richest 10 percent pay $59, the second 10
percent pay $18, the third 10 percent pay $12, the fourth 10 percent pay $7,
the fifth 10 percent pay $3, the sixth 10 percent pay $1, and the last four
groups pay nothing.
______________
Speaking of taxes -- it’s always heartwarming to hear where
some of the money is spent.
The White House has 29 limousines and 50 chauffeured cars at
its disposal. The federal government owns 1,200 civilian aircraft, used mainly
to fly executives and guests around the country.
There are over 4,000 federal employees specializing in
public relations, at an average annual salary of $95,000, whose sole purpose is
to “inform” the public of what a splendid job the government is doing. Plus,
the federal government now has over three million websites to help “inform” the
public of what a wonderful organization is looking after them.
Instead of whining about how the rich do not pay their fair
share, perhaps we should all be whining about the wasteful expenses our
government gets away with year after year.
______________
Speaking of the White House -- Richard Milhous Nixon and William
Jefferson Clinton are the only two U.S. Presidents whose names contain all the
letters in the word “criminal.”
______________
Speaking of U.S. Presidents -- I offer the following quotes,
as a reminder that people will actually stand in line to cast a vote for them.
Dwight Eisenhower – “The world is more like it is now than
it ever was before.”
Richard Nixon – “Solutions are not the answer.”
Ronald Reagan – “Facts are stupid things.”
George Bush, Sr. – “I have opinions of my own – strong
opinions – but I don’t always agree with them.”
Bill Clinton – “I’m someone who has a deep emotional
attachment to Starsky and Hutch.”
George Bush, Jr. – “It’s no exaggeration to say that the
undecideds could go one way or another.”
Barack Obama -- "I have now been in 57 states. I think
I have one left to go."
______________
Speaking of silly quotes by political leaders -- here’s a
few more.
Ted Kennedy – “I favor access to discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation.”
Dick Gebhardt – “What we have is two important values in
conflict – freedom of speech and our desire for healthy campaigns and a healthy
democracy. You can’t have both.”
Marion Barry (former Mayor of Washington, D.C.) – “If you
take out the killings, Washington has a very low crime rate.”
Walter Hickel (former Secretary of Interior) – “You can’t
just let nature run wild.”
___________
Quote for the Day -- "Politics is the art of looking for
trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the
wrong remedies.” Groucho Marx
___________
Bret Burquest is the author of 9 books. He lives
in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where nature happily runs
wild.
___________
-
-
