The recent tax riots in France provide us with a reminder as to why governments all over the world have central banks at their disposal. The primary benefit for politicians is to have their very own printing press that spits out new money to pay for whatever the politicians want.
Without the printing press, politicians would be forced to tax people directly. The people get the bill right away, and know that the bill is coming from the government.
Take France’s new scheme that substantially increases taxes on fuel. The people are getting hit directly with the tax, and they can see with their own eyes that it’s the government who is hitting them.
In this case, the direct tax has led to riots in the streets of France.
Direct taxes are never popular. No one likes to see their earnings squandered away by bureaucrats. On the flipside, bureaucrats want as much of your earnings as they’re able to take.
That’s why it’s so popular (especially in the U.S.) to have a central bank (i.e. Federal Reserve) that creates new dollars out-of-thin-air to pay for every political scheme in the book.
When the Fed creates new money, citizens are not directly presented with a bill. Instead, the newly printed dollars go to pay for the wars and welfare.
Can you imagine if Americans received a bill in the mail for their portion of the 17th year of war in Afghanistan, or for all the “free” stuff that government hands out?
Americans would literally go nuts if such a bill were to come.
The bill does come, just in a very different way.
Americans see the bill in rising prices for pretty much everything that they buy. They see the bill with having to get two jobs. They see the bill in a lower standard of living each year.
Because the Fed creates money out-of-thin-air, the money that you currently have in your possession loses value. It buys less. That’s how you pay. You’re taxed without even knowing it!
It’s so sneaky that one of the champions of this reprehensible “system” once boasted that “not one in a million” people will ever figure out what is happening to them.
When prices rise, the government can merely point to some made-up scapegoat.
It’s the greedy businessman … It’s the weather … It’s Putin! … Whatever nonsense that happens to stick.
Instead of Americans protesting government’s endless taxation, they just complain that they can’t make ends meet and blame whoever government wants them to blame (i.e., whoever government’s mainstream media puts the target on).
The government and The Fed are ripping us off … Big time … All the time.
Be one of the ‘1 in a million’ who understands this, and speak out against it.
The Fed’s Impossible Dream Of Fine-Tuning The Economy
11/28/2018
The Fed is raising rates in search of an arbitrary “neutral rate” that they’ve collectively set their sights upon. Then we can all relax, right? Wrong! The damage of the Fed’s manipulation of the economy has been done, and a financial crisis is unavoidable.
Allow Americans to ‘Opt Out’ of Abortion and War
11/27/2018
Picture
By Ron Paul
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released proposed rules allowing individuals to opt out of Obamacare’s abortion and contraception mandates for moral or religious reasons. These new rules should be cheered by all who agree with Thomas Jefferson that forcing people to subsidize that which they find abhorrent is “sinful and tyrannical.”
Sadly, Congress continues to pass, and President Trump continues to sign, spending bills subsidizing abortion providers. When government gives taxpayer money to abortion providers, it forces anti-abortion taxpayers to fund something they believe is murder. This is every bit as “sinful and tyrannical” as forcing health plans to pay for abortion and contraception.
If Congress is going to continue giving taxpayer dollars to abortion providers, then it should at least find a way to protect those with moral or religious objections to abortion from subsidizing the practice with their tax dollars. Creating a special fund for the taxes of those who object to abortion and ensuring money in that fund is not used to subsidize abortion providers would help ensure that anti-abortion taxpayers are no longer directly subsidizing what they believe is the murder of unborn children. However, it would force pro-life taxpayers to indirectly subsidize abortion because money is fungible. So, if the government used money from the pro-life taxpayers to increase spending on programs that do not subsidize abortion, it would be able to use a greater percentage of the taxes collected from other taxpayers to fund abortionists.
A better way to protect anti-abortion taxpayers is to give them an expanded charitable tax credit. Pro-life taxpayers could use the credit to support crisis pregnancy centers and other charities that help pregnant women and new mothers. This approach would increase funding to private charities, while ensuring that, since the plan reduces government revenue, anti-abortion taxpayers are neither directly nor indirectly subsidizing abortions.
Opponents of abortion are not the only Americans who should be allowed to opt out of paying for what they consider murder. The many Americans with moral and religious objections to Washington’s militaristic foreign policy should also be able to redirect some of their taxes from the warfare state to private charities. Some may claim this would weaken America’s defenses. However, since America’s military budget is higher than the combined military budgets of the next seven biggest spending countries, and since our militaristic foreign policy has little or no relation to actual security, there is no reason the military budget cannot and should not be reduced.
Allowing taxpayers to opt out of subsidizing war and abortion would be major victories. However, there are other government programs that might offer exemptions for moral or religious objections. For example, followers of Ayn Rand have moral objections to government-funded welfare. Some Christians also find government-provided welfare morally objectionable because they believe it is the duty of the church, not the state, to help the less fortunate. Others may find corporate welfare, the drug war, or restrictions on the First and Second Amendments morally objectionable.
It may be impossible to find a welfare-warfare state program that does not offend someone’s moral or religious beliefs. For many the entire welfare-warfare state is immoral because it is built on a foundation of aggression. The only way to stop the government forcing taxpayers to subsidize activities they consider immoral is to return to limited, constitutional government that does not steal from the people via the income tax and the inflation tax.
Black Sea Face Off: Is Ukraine Provoking War With Russia?
11/27/2018
The Russian seizure of two Ukrainian warships sailing through the Kerch Strait has flared up tensions almost to the point of war. Are special interests pushing Ukraine to provoke Russia? Is Kiev operating all on its own? Are Washington neocon fingerprints on this little operation? Will it spin out of control?
NO MORE!…We Must Stop The 40-Year Old Obsession With Iran
11/26/2018
Consistent failure has not deterred those who wish to rule the world militarily. With each passing decade, the foreign policy of America’s Founders is looking more and more attractive. Ron Paul has consistently advocated their policy of non-intervention and peace.
Who Owns The Fed?…Does It Even Matter?
11/23/2018
The Federal Reserve isn’t “federal” and it has no “reserves.” Is it a public institution? No. Is it private? No again. Is it Constitutional? Absolutely not! Who owns The Fed, and does it even matter?
Thanksgiving 2018: Reasons To be Thankful
11/22/2018
Did you know that the plentiful results of discarding collectivism for individual liberty ushered in Thanksgiving? Thank you, to all of our loyal viewers for sharing a part of each day with us. We are thankful that the ideas of Liberty are alive and well!
<
