It would help if they knew what they were talking about...

Yep, you guessed it. I did not run today so instead I got out my soapbox as I got my dander up over all of the truly inane comments I have been hearing about the terribly intrusive Federal government; especially since the 2008 election. "Taxes are too high!" "Obama wants to run every aspect of your life!" "The stimulus is a waste of money!" "If Brown can't stop it, a Browning can" blah blah blah. My personal favorite is in some states that think the burden of of the federal government is too much when all they are really saying is "Keep your government hands off my Medicare, Social Security or my Social Security Disability Compensation!" It would really help if these people actually knew what they were talking about. Or better yet, because they all can't be that STUPID, it would be nice if they stopped lying. Let's attack each of these issues...

"Taxes are too high" - Taxes are truly lower as a percentage of personal income than they have been in over 25 years. The real complaint that is coming from the crowd is that did not get their taxes cut; the folks who make over $250,000 per year; roughly 2% of the population. Although it is true that only 53% of all families paid income taxes, that does not mean that 47% of the citizenry is a bunch of deadbeats. What it does mean is that people are buying houses and taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit, it means that people are going back to school to take advantage of the education tax credit and true enough, there are approximately 9.5 million people out of work. All that said, for those people who actually end up paying income taxes, it's not so bad to have a tax problem. IT MEANS YOU MADE MONEY! Also, those folks who paid no income tax also finance a portion of the federal deficit spending by contributing their social security taxes. Social Security is the largest investor in Federal Treasury bonds. Financing the government; not the Chinese, Japanese or any body else.

"Obama wants to control every aspect of our lives" - This is just plain silly. It's the other side of the aisle that cares about who you sleep with. It's the other side that wants to pick its nose into some of the most personal decisions that someone can face. Decisions that should be left to you, your partner and your higher power are not the business of old men sitting in the legislature. All that this administration wants to do is give everyone the same opportunity. That include the same opportunity as you and I to buy private health insurance and not get ripped off. That is all this NEW LAW does. The last government started the snooping ON YOUR PHONE CALLS AND READING YOUR E-MAIL.

"The stimulus is a waste of money" - Okay, tax cuts are a waste of money, 2.2 million new jobs are a waste of money, helping millions of homeowners improve and keep their homes are a waste of money. Money multipliers take time and although it's easy to erase 6 million jobs through lack of regulation and letting the inmates run the asylum, it will take more than 9 months to fix things.

My favorite one is the secession and militia movement. As Harris and CBS news mentioned, the Tea Party members are primarily Republican voters (92%) and there is an interesting discussion that needs to be had about how much of a burden the federal government truly is to the states. The Tax Amnesty Program follows net federal taxes paid compared to federal funding received by each of the states from 1981 through 2005. On average, 15 states receive less than $1 in federal funds for every $1 in federal taxes paid. 35 states receive more in federal funding then they pay for. Before I outline who these stalwarts of fiscal responsibility are and who the leeches are, I'll tell you what... If you are in a state that receives more than you share of federal funding, I will support your secession movement as long as you pay back the other states you owe money to. It will sure help balance some state budgets!

Okay, here it is, the list of states that pay more than the get, along with the % of each dollar funded that is received back and which Presidential candidate the state voted for in 2008. Also, before we go any further, JUST BECAUSE YOU LOST THE ELECTION, YOU CANNOT SAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS ILLEGITIMATE!

State $ received/$ paid Presidential Vote

Colorado $.80 Obama

California $.78 Obama

Connecticut $.70 Obama

Delaware $.77 Obama

Illinois $.75 Obama

Massachusetts $.80 Obama

Michigan $.90 Obama

Minnesota $.70 Obama

Nevada $.65 McCain

New Hampshire $.70 McCain

New Jersey $.60 Obama

New York $.80 Obama

Oregon $.93 Obama

Wisconsin $.86 Obama

Texas $.95 McCain

Washington $.93 Obama

As you can see, real hot beds of socialism here. The anti-tax stalwarts lead the pack on the other side, though. Alaska (Sister Sarah's home) gets $1.60 for every dollar it pays, Arizona, a real mavericky place gets $1.40, and Oklahoma, who recently had a legislator propose an anti federal militia, receives $1.40 for every dollar of federal taxes paid. Being someone who is a resident of a net payor, LEAVE ALREADY! We can balance out state and federal budgets without your leeching state being part of the union. Let's see how your state residents like having their taxes increase 25%-80% to make up for no more federal aid.

ANYWAY, it's time to base arguments in fact; no, it's past time. No more with the lies, the spinning and the made up stories about 9/11 AND about the secret Kenyan birth certificates. You know, Rodney King may not have been wrong! Let's get along and have reasoned debate, not hysteria.