Tea Party - President Obama's Plan & Your Taxes
I've been thinking a lot about taxes and other things of a political nature. I've been considering what it means to be American - and what that requires of each of us - and I've been wondering why it seems that we've all become so pathetic about it.
Whining and complaining. Crying around about how we're all being treated so unfairly - and how "they" did this to "us" - so "they" better fix it.
Since when did we as Americans decide that we'd participate in our Government (*DEFINE GOVT HERE) through TV Screens and Login Names. Oh, but once every four years we'll march our Happy Meal hineys to the local library and cast our vote electronically.
Because we have the American Flag on our bumper and listen to Toby Keith.
We mostly pay our taxes - we let them take some money from our paychecks.
And we answer jury summons and pay our traffic citations.
But, don't expect us to like it. Don't expect us to participate beyond that.
Oh, America -
When did we decide that we couldn't decipher the truth with our own ears?
Why do we resort to gargled up FOX / CNBC / HLN / News interpretations - from Crows mouths - feeding us like baby birds?
Why do we accepting what is fed, as truth. Please, please, please start paying attention.
Please determine the truth for yourselves.
Right now, I want you to go get your past two or three Pay Stubs.
Go on - go do it right now - and I'll wait.
Oh, grab a pen while you're at it.
Ok.
Got it now?
Let's check this out:
Today, on April 15th - President Obama gave a speech about his Plan & Your Taxes. It was a quick speech - just five minutes or so - but, what struck me was the fact that he BYPASSED the media! He didn't deliver sound bites and video clips - he spoke DIRECTLY to the American People (you and me). I was beaming ear to ear when I realized that!
One of the things he said in his speech was that he had ALREADY cut Federal Taxes on all paychecks for folks who make less than $250,000 a year. (That's me!) He said that on April 1st the Tax cut went into effect; so, I took a look at my April 10th paycheck and compared it to my March 27th paycheck and SURE ENOUGH - Federal Taxes were lower by 2%. Hey, I'll take a cut of 2% happily! It's a start - if only my credit cards would cut my interest rates by 2%. Anyway, I thought that was a cook example of how this is truly effecting ME. Personally.
If you're interested in reading Barack's April 15 Tax Day Speech - You can read it here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaforamerica/gGxvrx
He spoke to YOU and I - Directly! He wants us to know that he understands that we are unhappy and confused by the current state of the Tax System. He address that and tells of his plan to go through ALL the taxes with fine-toothed comb. Looking to eliminate wasteful spending - and to reinvest in areas that will truly benefit you and I.
In the end - we'll be spending smarter - not spending more.
The truth is : Taxes are inevitable - if you are to live here in America.
There can be required more of you, like jury duty, military duty, civic service - only you can say...but, at the BARE MINIMUM - you're going to have to pay taxes. So...if you want to have a say in how that money is spent - get involved in a proactive and positive way. Get folks talking about it.
Just this past week - I got an email about two political rallies happening in my town - they're happening all over. Essentially, they are town hall style meetings, where you meet with a local person representing Obama - and you give feedback. People - Obama is listening. He wants to do what's right for all of us. He wants to hear from you directly. He's SPEAKING to you directly.
Go to the town meetings, if you can. Participate!
If you're interested in attending one of those meetings in your area - I found this site:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_results?orderby=day&state=TX&country=US&event_type%5B0%5D=240&limit=100
Let's fix it, together. Let's not sit around and wait for FOX or NBC to tell us whether we're happy with the government, or not. Let's decide for ourselves.
That's decide for ourselves what it means to be an American-today.