Remember the Becky Otis-Young Benefit Brunch that is being held tomorrow (Sunday) at the Butler Fire Barn. We’ve got to eat anyway, why not drive to the west edge of Butler and support Becky and her family?
Comedian W. C. Fields had a reputation as an alcoholic and man of the world. It is said that on his deathbed he was found reading a Bible. When asked what he was doing, he replied, “Looking for loopholes, my friend, Looking for loopholes.”
I’m sure that all the government’s tax need would be met to do all types of social assistance if all tax loopholes were closed. Republicans have their favorite loopholes, and Democrats have different loopholes they cherish. Together, how many high money-makers pay no taxes, but have found loopholes in investing in their business so they can make more money? We all look for those available loopholes, don’t we?
But I don’t think W. C. Fields found a loophole when it comes to eternity with God. The rules are very clear if not ignored. Only through Jesus Christ can mankind find spiritual peace with the Creator. There are no loopholes.
Tags: loopholes, tax
I’m reading the Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson. I thought it would have more personal anecdotes about his upbringing, but it is mainly a history of the process of independence and how the new nation was established. One of the fascinating things I’m learning is how the nation’s founders determined to raise money for the new federal government.
Some states were larger and some smaller, some richer and more populated and some the opposite. How could they agree on a fair assessment of taxes that each state would approve? One of the difficulties was that farmers in the northern states, who had few slaves, invested in cattle, while plantation owners in the southern states invested in slaves.
The compromise that drew all the states into agreement was to tax cattle and chattel (slaves) as property equally. Thus, the northern states were as guilty as the southern states in establishing the custom of slavery in the new United States of America. The abolition of slavery came 109 years later during the Civil War.
The lesson: sometimes compromise locks us into something that cannot survive. Let’s make wise decisions.
Tags: freedom, Independence Day, slavery, tax
Some Christians make it a habit to wear a cross. It may be on a necklace or a lapel pin. It may be worn thoughtlessly as a piece of jewelry or prayerfully to let people know of the wearer’s personal faith, and it also can be worn as a good luck charm of sorts.
In April 2006, a Methodist church in the city of Dudley, England, found out that it would have to pay a fee to put a cross on its new building. Yes, a fee was required because under British law the cross is an advertisement. It proclaims to the world, whether on a person or a building, that the cross has a value.
What if the government assessed a fee (tax) for you to exhibit a cross? Would you pay it?
Tags: cross, tax