Taxing to the last breath ~ By Doug Powers

By Doug Powers Posted: July 13, 2009 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 The year 2009 may well be the most expensive year in history, both in a financial and constitutional sense, and it might get even worse. The cap-and-trade bill will be debated in the Senate soon, talk of another stimulus is flying around, and Barbara Boxer and others are ratcheting up the rhetoric so as to make us believe that if we don't commit to giving all remaining money and freedom to Washington now, we'll be dead before dinner. Some are trying to make the case that only another stimulus will save the economy, which is a little asking the captain of the Titanic to hit another iceberg in the hopes it will plug up the holes made by the first one. The very idea of a second Obama stimulus is sheer madness, which is exactly what makes it a very real possibility. And to top it off an administration that has been called "Gilligan's Island without the professor" is in control of General Motors – but you can read all about that in next month's issue of Czar & Driver magazine. There should be nothing more disconcerting to Americans than seeing a bunch of politicians in a hurry. The president, Senate Democrats and a few falsely labeled "Republicans" rushed through the stimulus package like Trent Lott scurrying through South Central at dusk. Now, to cover the enormous "stimulus" outlay that, by design, does nothing but increase the size and reach of the government, they must reload the coffers by trying to tax you for each time you toast bread or exhale ("pay as you blow"?) via carbon and energy taxes. The quest of carbon-based life to spend every last penny on earth to get rid of carbon will turn out to be either the most costly suicide ever, or the most expensive scam of all time. Frankly, I'm not thrilled with either option, but I have a pretty good idea which it is. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, because cap and trade is going global. President Obama met with other G8 leaders in Rome to figure out ways to control Earth's temperature using nothing but the remaining contents of your paycheck. Impressive. I'll bet even MacGyver couldn't do that! I have to admit, creating a fear of naturally occurring phenomena like the weather and temperature to achieve power while providing a justification to steal both money and freedom is medieval, but conceptually brilliant and a time-honored tradition among people seeking a way to take advantage of the ignorant. [CONTINUE READING]