Whooooo Hoooo!!! Part II

I got The Fair Tax book from Barnes and Noble on Thursday. I've begun to read it and have already learned a couple of things I didn't know or didn't understand. So far, it's just as interesting and informative as I thought it would be. I think that I'm fairly well versed on the Fair Tax, but I knew there was a lot I didn't understand.

For instance, I finally learned the difference between an inclusive (tax is added to the cost before getting to the register) and and exclusive tax (tax is added at the register) and how it is applied in a consumption tax. Don't worry, I'm not going into it here. That's for another post.

If you are interested in the subject of tax reform, and I think we can all agree that the current system needs to be overhauled at the very least, please do some reading and investigating. This book is a good place to start. It's an easy read, entertaining, and informative.

The Fair Tax isn't perfect, but it's better than any other plan out there now.

Happy Birthday, Big Brother!

My brother's birthday was yesterday. He's ten years older, almost a foot taller, and I sometimes call him my "little brother" in jest. Not much of a joke, but it amuses me.

I called him yesterday, but left voice mail because he was unavailable, according to his message. He called back last evening and we got caught up on family events. He's gonna be a granddaddy again in September and December. His oldest son has two boys (Matthew and Christian) and married a girl with four and one on the way (a boy to be named John Alexander). His second son has two (Benjamin and Nicholas), his stepson has one (Grady), and his daughter is expecting a boy in September (no name yet. Update: Baby to be named Andrew after his daddy). It's times like this I'm sort of happy they all (but the second son) live elsewhere at Christmas time :D When we get the Fair Tax passed, I'll be able to afford Christmas with the Next Generation.

Sis-in-law's birthday is today and mine is next Friday (the 12th). We're hoping to get together to celebrate the birthdays, but with school starting (Sis-in-law is a kindergarten teacher - God Bless her! and Big Brother is in Administration at the School Board) the next couple of weeks might be difficult.

Whether we get together or not, Happy Birthday, Big Brother and Sis-in-law! I love you both!

New Feature

I've added a poll to the site. New polls will post as often as I can, but will probably be on a random basis. You'll be able to find it in the side bar. If you have suggestions for future polls, just let me know. I'm open to suggestions - for the poll! (Do I know this crowd or what?)

As always, have fun with it!

Deer Dog

I wondered why my Chihuahua, Wyatt, had such long legs and such a deep chest. He's taller than other Chi's in the neighborhood and his nose is longer. I had begun to think that perhaps there was an Italian Greyhound in his background somewhere. That perhaps he wasn't the "pure" Chihuahua I had believed he was. Now, when you get a puppy through the husband of the breeder's granddaughter, and for free, you don't ask alot of questions. You have to take a lot of things on faith. As soon as I laid eyes on Wyatt I didn't care if he was "pure" or not. That sweet face and big dark eyes won my heart in a heartbeat.

Nothing changed over the last eleven months. He won me, My Other Half, and one of our cats, Mr. Oliver, over. Miss Dolly is another story. She's a crotchety old feline (but we love her just the same). As long as we understand and adhere to her priorities, first and foremost, life is good. Feed her, give her fresh water, keep her litterbox clean, and scratch her ears (when she allows it) and she's satisfied. The occassional treat goes without saying. But to show acceptance for this new creature in her sphere of influence and without her approval? Well! She does, however, occassionally forget that she's crotchety and plays with Wyatt, then recalls her stand on the matter and hisses and spits at him. She turns her back and begins to groom herself as if he interupted her from doing just that.

Anyway. I was reading messages on a Yahoo! group I belong to about Chihuahua's. A member mentioned that a new neighbor moved in with their "reindeer" Chihuahua. Reindeer? That caught my attention very quickly. After messages back and forth among several members, we learned that there is indeed a "deerhead" body type along with the common "appledome" body type (apple referring to the shaping of the head). The "apple" type is the more common and is what most everyone recognizes as a Chihuahua.

The "deer" body type is the older type and is not as common, but is every bit a Chihuahua as the more common "apple" type. I was happy to know that Wyatt is "pure", but even happier to know that he is the unique "deer" type. I never intended to breed Wyatt; he was always meant to be a pet. Wyatt has deer coloring and when he lays down, he looks like a little deer.

Here's a picture of Wyatt. I believe him to be the poster boy for the deer-type Chihuahua.

Isn't he a sweetie? No wonder he stole my heart.

Whooooo Hoooo!!!

Got an email from Barnes and Nobel that my pre-ordered copy of The Fair Tax is being shipped. Yeah, I could have bought it today, but I wanted to be sure that I got a copy and I wanted to be sure that it was counted in pre-order rankings.

People, this is just so important, you can't believe it. But, it's up to us as citizens to let our congresscritters know that we want a national sales tax.

You know, one of the reason I hear against the Fair Tax is that tax avoidance would go sky high. No plan is foolproof. Sure people will do everything they can to avoid paying taxes. They do it now. But the naysayers forget one thing: people have to eat. Food will be taxed. Everyone will pay a "tax" then. One more "but"....every current taxpayer will get a prebate each month that will pay the sales tax on what they are expected to pay for the basic necessities of life...such as food. This is the only plan where the poor truly don't pay taxes.

Everyone gets their entire paycheck (minus deductions for health insurance and the like). There will be no payroll taxes for income tax or Social Security. There will be no corporate taxes (corporations don't pay taxes in the first place. Corporate taxes are passed on to the consumer of the company's product or service). No filling out IRS forms. No paying tax preparers. No waiting for that refund check. It's your money, you shouldn't have to ask for it back. As I said in another post, it's like a child giving money to the parent and then getting some of it back as an allowance.

You will have the power to choose what taxes you pay and how much. If you choose to buy a new car or build a new house, you will pay sales taxes. If you choose to buy a previously owned car or home, you pay no sales tax. Okay, you will pay taxes on food, I can't think of any food that can be used then resold. At least none that I want to buy!

I predict that when (notice I said when, not if), this passes, the American citizen will have more money than they dreamed of. America will become a tax haven for corporations in other countries. Talk about a land of opportunity!

This is all a matter of ownership. You own your paycheck. You own your bank account. You own your choices. Too many congresscritters of both parties want that money. They don't want you to own your future. Why, you might decide that your own congresscritter doesn't have your interests at heart. You might realize that his or her primary interest lies in getting re-elected. If they actually do something that will do something for the folks back home, well, that's just something to point to to prove their worth. You might realize that you have it in your power to fire that critter at the ballot box.

Change is hard. We all like that with which we are familiar. We are comfortable with familiar. It's our safety net. Our binkie. I personally hate change. I like knowing what to expect. But you know what? I also like knowing that the money I have earned is mine. And that any choices made in spending my money are mine to make. If I don't like what Washington is doing, I can start buying used goods whenever possible to keep my money from going to Washington. But truly, how many people are going to do that? Mostly, only the ones who want to "fly under the radar" and for the most part, they do already.

Don't be concerened that everyone will start buying used cars to keep from paying a sales tax on a new car. You and I both know that there are people who will buy new because they can or because they want to impress people by showing how well they are doing (whether they are or not). Same with housing, furniture, second homes, cars, motorcycles, investments, second cars, vacations and so on.

It all comes down to choice. Do you have the guts to take your future, your destiny, in your own hands? Or will you continue to allow Washington to make your decisions for you?

August Holidays

A list of holidays and observances for the month of August. Some are very humorous! The only one they left off was my birthday. Of course, Kool-Aid Day is celebrated on my birthday so, maybe it would be just too much to expect.

::sigh::

What? No Hurricanes?

Can you believe it? It's the last day of July and no hurricanes in the Atlantic. Or Pacific for that matter. I checked with NOAA and there doesn't seem to be any activity right now.

And that's the way we like it. After a very unusual July with seven named storms we could use a break. It truly was unusual to have so much activity so early. For the last, geeze, several years anyway, we had no storms until mid to late August, and sometimes into September. I guess Mother Nature got frisky with four storms hitting Florida last year. And this year she apparently decided to show all of us that we couldn't say she was predictable.

Let's just say it wouldn't hurt my feelings if Mother Nature ignored us for the rest of hurricane season.