Taxed Into Oblivion

In the United States today, we are being taxed into oblivion, yet it is being done so stealthily that most Americans don't even realize what is happening. Most people are fixated on federal income tax rates, but the federal income tax is only one of the dozens of different taxes that each of us pay each year. The politicians have learned that people get really upset when income tax rates are raised, so they have found hundreds of other ways to raise taxes on us. What most taxpayers in the United States today are facing is "death by a thousand cuts". When you add up all forms of taxation from all levels of government, approximately 40 percent of all the income in the country is taken in as taxes by government. Large numbers of Americans end up paying well over 50 percent of their income in taxes, and many of them don't even realize that it is happening. We truly are being taxed into oblivion, and yet the politicians just keep coming back for more.

On all levels, government just keeps growing, and all of this government has got to be paid for somehow. Politicians have become masters at finding ways to tax us so that we won't even feel it. They have an endless hunger to spend more money, and they depend on us to feed that addiction. Today, the combination of federal government spending, state government spending and local government spending now accounts for a larger share of U.S. GDP than at any other time in our history.

Yes, federal income tax rates were significantly higher 30 or 40 years ago. But virtually every other tax you can think of has gone way up since then or did not exist back then.

Federal income taxes definitely still hurt, but the reality is that where we really get hit is in all of the other taxes that we pay. American families pay Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, state income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, death taxes, various excise taxes, gasoline taxes, tire taxes, utility taxes, liquor taxes, telephone taxes and cigarette taxes just to name a few. The truth is that there are dozens and dozens of different taxes that most Americans pay each year, and there are a whole bunch of others that get passed on to us through businesses that we deal with.

Speaking of cigarette taxes, there is legislation in Congress right now that would send taxes on tobacco products absolutely skyrocketing yet again.

I don't smoke and I never will smoke, but I find the attack on smokers by our politicians to be seriously offensive. If smoking is legal, then leave them alone. Don't tax them into oblivion just because you don't like what they are doing.

An excerpt from S. 1403 (The IDEA Full Funding Act) is posted below. You will notice that a portion of this legislation even refers to itself as the "Saving Lives by Lowering Tobacco Use Act". They are openly admitting that they want to make tobacco so expensive that people cannot afford to use it....

In the United States today, we are being taxed into oblivion, yet it is being done so stealthily that most Americans don't even realize what is happening. Most people are fixated on federal income tax rates, but the federal income tax is only one of the dozens of different taxes that each of us pay each year. The politicians have learned that people get really upset when income tax rates are raised, so they have found hundreds of other ways to raise taxes on us. What most taxpayers in the United States today are facing is "death by a thousand cuts". When you add up all forms of taxation from all levels of government, approximately 40 percent of all the income in the country is taken in as taxes by government. Large numbers of Americans end up paying well over 50 percent of their income in taxes, and many of them don't even realize that it is happening. We truly are being taxed into oblivion, and yet the politicians just keep coming back for more.

On all levels, government just keeps growing, and all of this government has got to be paid for somehow. Politicians have become masters at finding ways to tax us so that we won't even feel it. They have an endless hunger to spend more money, and they depend on us to feed that addiction. Today, the combination of federal government spending, state government spending and local government spending now accounts for a larger share of U.S. GDP than at any other time in our history.

Yes, federal income tax rates were significantly higher 30 or 40 years ago. But virtually every other tax you can think of has gone way up since then or did not exist back then.

Federal income taxes definitely still hurt, but the reality is that where we really get hit is in all of the other taxes that we pay. American families pay Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, state income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, death taxes, various excise taxes, gasoline taxes, tire taxes, utility taxes, liquor taxes, telephone taxes and cigarette taxes just to name a few. The truth is that there are dozens and dozens of different taxes that most Americans pay each year, and there are a whole bunch of others that get passed on to us through businesses that we deal with.

Speaking of cigarette taxes, there is legislation in Congress right now that would send taxes on tobacco products absolutely skyrocketing yet again.

I don't smoke and I never will smoke, but I find the attack on smokers by our politicians to be seriously offensive. If smoking is legal, then leave them alone. Don't tax them into oblivion just because you don't like what they are doing.

An excerpt from S. 1403 (The IDEA Full Funding Act) is posted below. You will notice that a portion of this legislation even refers to itself as the "Saving Lives by Lowering Tobacco Use Act". They are openly admitting that they want to make tobacco so expensive that people cannot afford to use it.... (more)