Speaking of Our Fearless Leaders

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.

___________

-

-