Survey Raises Hackels of Tax Payers

This local story, an extra from The American (see bottom of article), is on how taxes in Tacoma, WA are climbing every year. (You'll want to see this brief video about what's happening in Olympia now that the Democrats are in power.)

Volume 7, Number 2.1 February, 2018

In This Issue. . .

I'm Angry and I'm Not Keeping Quiet About It! By Paula Lonergan

Today, I received a very pleasant email from our editor, Richard, and was very nice hear from him. After reading his email and while still sitting at the computer, I received a phone call about 10:25 AM from a professional surveying company and you'll never guess what it was about (or, maybe you can guess).

 

After I was invited to participate in the survey, I learned the 

caller wanted to know my receptivity to a new 0.1% of a city 

sales tax, and boy did I let the caller have it. Here's the 

premise for this year's early request. You see, we have a 

new mayor. One that isn't real sure if she has a BA or an AA 

degree, but she promised to do more for the poor of our city 

so those who support the arts that believe I should too, want 

to make an absurd case that the poor need to increase their 

exposure to the arts and someone needs to cough up 

another tenth of one percent to help pay for it! 

 

I heard the caller's rationale for the proposed tax increase 

and the need to increase the exposure of the poor, 

especially poor students, to the arts. The caller wanted me 

to feel a moral obligation to voluntarily vote for another sales 

tax increase, in spite of the fact that I'm still reeling from the 

last set of tax increases, to include now having an 

outrageous 10.4% sales tax thanks to ST3! I distinctly 

remember getting angrier and angrier, speaking a little more 

tight-lipped as usual, as the caller continued his line of 

questioning. He almost seemed to project a sense that if he 

could only somehow appeal to sense of duty to help the poor 

that I would be unable to see through the 'bull crap' and 

finally agree that if the newly formed city council could 

somehow wrap another smelly, repugnant tax package in 

shiny Christmas paper that it would never occur to me that of 

all the things a poor person might want me to pay for, the 

arts are the very last thing a poor kid might ask for!

 

Now, I can believe that the arts community may want to glom 

on to more tax dollars to help pay for stupid art projects and 

programs, or to support museums that cannot make it on 

their own as well as upgrades to the Pantages, Chihuly's 

Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum and/or the LeMay [Car]

Museum (that was, now that I think about it, specifically 

mentioned), nevertheless, I was still able to hold my ground 

and say that no matter what the answer is still, “No.”

 

All of a sudden, in the midst of the call, I remembered my 

friends, the Sims. I could see quite clearly why they may 

have felt compelled to sever ties with this city and state, sell 

their home, pack up and leave everything they've known and 

loved behind. As the song goes, “I can [see] clearly now, the 

rain is gone...” Well, that's it! I don't usually do this but now 

that my son, Joe, is off of the city council I may actually have 

to go down to the next open forum and let them know I know 

what they're up to and I'm not going to stand still for it! 

What's so reprehensible to me is that the new mayor is 

already trying to placate her financial constituency by 

promising to use more of my resources--competing with cars 

tabs, increased sales tax as well as the increased property 

taxes, too.

 

Before closing out this article, I invite you to give a great deal 

of thought to what's coming down the pike and channel your 

anger wisely to make your thoughts known about increased 

taxes for the arts--oh, yeah, and let's not forget, this is for the 

poor and you can certainly take that to the bank (or, rather, 

someone wants to dip into your account for that).

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“The American” is published before the first week of every month aimed at the voters of the 27^th Legislative District and Tacoma, WA. The focus of the publication is to identify some of the issues that affect our district mixed with opinion, commentary and humor. The subscription is free. To subscribe to this newsletter, please send your email address with a request to Richard Sims ragsims 1544@gmail.com. Those who contribute articles will receive full credit for their contribution.

I'm Voting Democrat because...

• I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
• I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine, as long as nobody is offended by it.
• I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.
• I'm voting Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.
• I'm voting Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies, so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
• I'm voting Democrat because I believe business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to government for redistribution as THEY see fit.
• I'm voting Democrat because I believe those who come into our country illegally aren't breaking federal law, they just don't have the proper documentation yet so they can vote Democrat.
• I'm voting Democrat because I believe that when the terrorists don't have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don't want to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.
• I'm voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my lama.
• I'm voting Democrat because I want everyone else who drives a car to pay 4Xs their normal renewal tab fees and an average of $100/month on property taxes to support building a 19th century technology rapid transit system that will take 30 years to build in order to solve a 21st century problem of congestion that will only impact 3% of the drivers, when we'll have driverless cars in another 5 years.
• I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil companies' profit of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.
• I'm voting Democrat because California wants to make a business owner's waiter/waitress who gives a customer in a restaurant a straw without their asking for it, punishable as a crime to either pay $1,000 or spend 6 months in jail.

Makes ya wonder why anyone would EVER vote Republican, now doesn't it?

A Few Interesting Facts About "Dreamers"

• 792,000 dreamers are over 25 years old (88%)
• 900 dreamers serve in our military (Less than 1%)
• 743,000 dreamers do not have a college degree (83%)
• 189, 000 dreamers dropped out of High School early (That's roughly 21%)
• 9,000 dreamers are incarcerated (1%)
• 657,000 dreamers receive some form of welfare (73%)

Please tell me... exactly what positive impact are these "Dreamers" having on our communities and society? What type of scam is our government running against us?

This Is What Socialism Looks Like!

If there's a way to understand just how socialism works in our modern society, California's government is a prime example.

Don't believe me? Read this article, and watch the video contained within it to learn just how socialists' view business versus the homeless in their state. While the socialist has complete sympathy for the homeless by making excuses for them and their littering of garbage, they view the way to get businesses to comply with their desire to reduce plastic garbage generated by their business is to consider passing a law which would fine and imprison a business owner for allowing their waiters/waitresses to give out plastic straws without the customer requesting one!

Oh, the irony of it all! While they espouse caring for the environment, they promote the ability of the homeless to turn the landscape around their encampments into mini-landfills of their left-over plastic and paper garbage!

I wonder what excuse the state is going to give when asked why their state no longer has any economic viability in the future after all the residents who are willing to work leave the state for elsewhere because they grew tired of supporting the majority of homeless and illegal immigrants who are now squatting while collecting subsidies from the government.

We're Beyond The Finger In The Dam

Over the past month news has been steadily mounting through daily revelations about the fact based truth regarding what had actually been committed by the left's coordinated efforts by some top F.B.I. and D.O.J. employees to manipulate the election in favor of Hillary and the consequent attempt to undo the unexpected results of Trump winning the election instead. The two "rogue spooks" in the F.B.I. are exposed in an article by Dick Morris; former personal advisor to both Bill & Hillary Clinton back in the '90s. This is causing the left's heads to explode because of the exposure.

Here's a former U.S. Attorney explaining what currently is known from what's been revealed from FOIA requests and a congressional document that's now been viewed by over 200 Congresspersons.

Here's an article which explains the origin of how the "Russian Dossier" made its way from the left's efforts to frame the pres.-elect Trump once their expectations were obliterated by the unexpected outcome to F.B.I. Director Comey's hands; who then gave it to a Columbia University's hands to share with media and launch the biggest fake news collaboration in our nation's history.

Lastly, here's an article explaining how the special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, is using the old tactic of bait and switch in his investigation of claims by the left which has discovered no evidence to back up such claims made by the salacious dossier.

Turning America On Its Head

I grew up in an era when it was popular to promote the social construct that law and order were paramount to a safe and prosperous culture. Now that's all changed.

Today, the left is pushing the narrative that human rights trump civil rights; that those who've entered the country illegally deserve the same rights as those who've been born here and lived all their lives contributing to the nation.

I've lived my entire life understanding that:
- following the laws, 
- not committing crimes against anyone,
- defending my country by serving it for four years in the military,
- and going to college to have a chance to give back to society's future generations by being a public school teacher for 30 years while raising my children in a neighborhood where I felt safe,

was being a good member of society and the country. In return, I would feel reasonable to expect as a result that I have earned some degree of respect, cordial treatment by those I might not agree with on certain issues, and otherwise be left alone to enjoy my golden years.

Yet, what are we hearing from the left today?

I just listened to a sanctuary city mayor on a show say that "Dreamers" deserve the same opportunities as regular citizens... even when they do things which break the law. Blocking the entrance to Disneyland was their protest action.

Now, they're telling me - as a white, Christian, male - that all of what's wrong with our country is that we W.A.S.P.s supposedly harbor some kind of "privilege" over other races! Bullshit! I had, growing up, just as many obstacles and hardships as they're encountering, yet I understood that persisting and applying myself would get me and my family ahead. And, it did! No, that type of statement from the left is nothing more than pure socialist propaganda to obscure the need for law and order which the left is working persistently to destroy. Instead, they're treating illegal immigrants who've murdered someone - Kate Stinely, for instance - or raped several women as though they deserve special treatment! And if they succeed, then our nation will turn out no better than the rest of the third world banana republics. In fact, some are now arguing that such a status has already begun in the enactment of certain situations that were set up in the previous administration.
You know, while I understand that these people were either brought here by their parents dragging them with them, or sent here with the future intent of having those children bring them into the country under the family reunification policy of the past administrations, it still doesn't give those people who've been here for between eight and four years any rights if they've not become naturalized citizens! Instead, they've waited, while growing up, for the federal government to pass some kind of legislation giving them a status which would allow them more time to decide whether they would bother becoming naturalized while taking advantage of the "kindness" of America's hearts because the left feels guilty about how good we Americans have got it.

How can I say that leftists are working on destroying law and order? Try the fact that California's Attorney General has announced to the entire state that since the start of the new year, the laws have changed making the whole state a sanctuary state. So, if any business cooperates with any federal agency or agents who are attempting to locate any illegal immigrants who may be working for the owner's business, the A.G.'s office will PROSECUTE that business owner! The only reason such absurd policies are being made like this is that the left has been progressively been moving to a more ridiculous position and is desperate to regain power after losing to Pres. Trump.

This is clearly stepping over the line! If anyone's going to be prosecuted under federal laws, it will be the state A.G. of California and those who are aiding him in prosecuting business owners since there is clear court precedent for federal laws being paramount; especially when it comes to federal issues like immigration. Now the situation can go two ways; restoration of law and order, or literal civil war!

How Easily Our Public Has Been Silenced!

I've touched on this topic in various ways in previous posts, but I came across this very brief video today which is a fantastic example of just how simple it is to combat the left's argument for suppressing free speech whenever someone is speaking "hate" or offending another.

I believe, because our public school system has long omitted teaching critical thinking, along with the adolescent level "group think" of going along with what's popular, much of our youth today have no way of realizing how they can combat or counter the issue of "hate speech" which has now become the left's championing of societal sensitivity. In other words, they've been successfully oppressed with a psychological strategy that comes across as intellectually superior and have no skills or understanding of how to fight back. 

To more clearly understand what I'm getting at, just watch this one-minute clip where Jordon Peterson, a guest being interviewed on the topic of free speech, counters the hostess of the show by pointing out what free speech actually is... which catches the hostess speechless because she can't argue against the clear point he makes in reply.