CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY APRIL 14, 2025
TOMORROW IS APRIL 15. FEDERAL TAXES MUST BE PAID, OR THE MOST ONEROUS BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT MAY COME AFTER YOU WITH PENALTIES, WAGE GARNISHMENT, EVEN PRISON.
CONGRESS HAS DONE THIS TO US. SINCE THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT WAS PASSED IN 1913, CREATING THE GRADUATED INCOME TAX, PEOPLE HAVE HATED THE IRS MORE THAN ANY OTHER PART OF GOVERNMENT. ITS ENFORCEMENT OF THE UNREADABLE TAX CODE IS ARBITRARY. IF YOU TRY TO GET THROUGH TO THE IRS FOR HELP, YOU ARE BOUND TO BE FRUSTRATED. IF THE ADVICE THEY GIVE IS WRONG, YOU PAY A PENALTY, NOT THEM.
WE HAVE HEARD FOR YEARS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ALLEGEDLY DON’T PAY THEIR “FAIR SHARE” IN TAXES. UNTIL ELON MUSK AND DOGE WE HAVE HEARD LITTLE ABOUT HOW GOVERNMENT WASTES OUR MONEY.
IN HIS BOOK “FOR GOOD AND EVIL: THE IMPACT OF TAXES ON THE COURSE OF CIVILIZATION,” HISTORIAN CHARLES ADAMS ISSUES THIS WARNING: “FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS OF CIVILIZATION, TAX LAWS HAVE TAKEN AWAY LIBERTY MORE THAN FOREIGN INVADERS.” CALVIN COOLIDGE SAID: “THE COLLECTION OF ANY TAXES WHICH ARE NOT ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED, WHICH DO NOT BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PUBLIC WELFARE, IS ONLY A SPECIES OF LARCENY.” PONDER THAT. I’M CAL THOMAS.
I’m unhappy that most, or many congressmen (and women) have become millionaires…having once been elected to office. Most of those who aren’t have doubtless not yet learned how to accomplish this. I feel sure they will have learned this lesson when, or if, they are elected to a second term.