Americanly Yours

I received my property tax bill the other day and noticed a substantial increase.  I think that property taxes are entirely inappropriate and should be abolished for several simple and logical reasons.

If you buy a house or some land, you become the owner of that property.

When the government charges a property owner a property tax, they are essentially charging the owner to use property that he already owns.  To me, at least, this idea is completely baffling.  I could not imagine how vocal the opposition would be if the government began assessing a 5% annual tax on the value of your jewelery or your ipod.  Why then should the government be allowed to charge you money to live in a house that you have already purchased?

The government does this because it has a captive audience, meaning that most of us cannot simply pick up and move our property to another county.  They also claim that in exchange for the increases, you will be given a better standard of living—new roads, better schools, and more parks.  I’m not even going to address the fallacy of these claims now.

The main problem now is that the government is raising property taxes at a time when foreclosures are growing and the unemployment rate is surging higher.  Simply put, people are hurting for money and they are afraid of losing their jobs.  This is the wrong time for the government to raise property taxes on its citizens.

You might be saying that you dont own your home, and therefore the increases in property taxes do not affect you.  However, you are wrong.  If you rent your home or apartment, the owner of the property still has to pay property taxes to the government.  Any increases in his property taxes will likely lead to increases in your rent.  Homeowners arent the only people who are required to pay property taxes.  Businesses also pay them.  When property taxes on businesses increase, so does the cost of goods and services produced by the businesses.  Even worse, these increased costs on businesses could cause companies to cut down on their employees’ hours, or even cause the businesses to fire some workers.
Property taxes are immoral because they result in the government charging you a fee to use something which you have already purchased.  When the government charges a property tax, they are essentially saying that even though you have already bought the land, the government still considers it to be their land, and they reserve the right to charge you to use it.  In fact, you could argue that property taxes are nothing more than the government charging you rent to use your own property.

Besides this, property taxes are not fair to older Americans.  Retired Americans who are earning a fixed income from Social Security or their corporate pension already have to deal with inflation in the costs of everyday goods.  It is unfair for them to also have to continue to pay taxes on something that they may have purchased decades ago.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

By effectively nationalizing the banking industry, our government has made a giant leap away from Capitalism and towards socialism.  Our government now owns large stakes in most of the Nation’s largest banks.  The government has already invested $271 billion of the $700 billion that it budgeted for “stimulating” private banks.  The have committed to funding another $30 billion.  The rest of the $700 billion will follow soon.  Additionally, some members of Congress are already saying that because the first half of the $700 billion isnt being spent “correctly,” more money may be “needed.”

Here is a really cool chart that lists how much each bank has received from the TARP program.  It is updated daily.

I absolutely refuse to put my money in a government owned bank.  I will not allow the government to take the profits it earns off of my deposits to fund any further bailouts.  By banking at a government run bank, you are encouraging these bailouts.  If you are against further (or existing) government bailouts, then it is your duty to remove your money from this bank and place it in an independent bank.  I used to bank at Washington Mutual which is now owned by JPMorgan Chase (which has received $25 billion from the government in exchange for ownership rights).  I removed my money from this bank as soon as I was able to identify a local bank that had not sold part of itself to our government.

I now bank at United America’s Bank in Chamblee.  This is a small bank with only a few locations in Atlanta, Chamblee, and Roswell, but it is a bank that is independent from government ownership.  Plus, it has the added convenience of being the closest bank to my house.  Whether you live in my area or somewhere else, if you oppose government bailouts and government ownership of businesses, you should consider putting your money in a small bank that is not owned by the government.  I would be glad to help you find a non-government owned bank in your area.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet