TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

ADVERTISEMENT

By DONALD J. MYERS, A Mind of My Own

Hernando Today

Published: February 7, 2009

I am old enough to know that it is more important to observe what a leader, or anyone for that matter, does rather than what he says, especially for politicians.

President Barack Obama has only been in office for a little over two weeks, but we have seen and heard a lot about his style of leadership. And following what he said that he would do if elected.

It is obvious that paying taxes is not important if one expects to be selected to a high ranking government position. Mistakes are made since the tax laws are so voluminous and complicated. I do find it rather interesting that the party (Democrats) that consistently desires to raise taxes does its utmost as citizens to avoid them. They, like most of us, believe that they are better able to spend the money that they are paid rather than the government. U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., is in arrears for rental property in the Caribbean and New York. Vice President Joe Biden stated that it is patriotic to pay taxes, but he has been rather mum on that topic recently.

The "stimulus bill" is working its way through Congress and grows with each passing day. The president stated during his campaign that he would not allow any earmarks (pork) to be in bills that come to his desk. This whole bill is pork. He also stated that lobbyists would have no place on in his administration and yet we are seeing them arrive in key positions.

When the president spoke on Tuesday, he said that Tom Daschle withdrew from his nomination as Health and Human Services director because he did not want it to seem like there were two standards for dealing with those who made mistakes on taxes. Now who of us would possibly think that politicians are not given special treatment just because they pay no penalties and in some cases no interest for tax payments?

All of this is happening at a time when most Americans are beginning to look at their own tax payments for last year. Most Americans do not have the benefit of accountants to compute and determine the meaning of all the rules, but the people who have been caught owing taxes while trying to become members of the current administration did.

Just last week, a single woman in California gave birth to octuplets. She already had six other children under 7 years old and lives with her parents. Mark Steyn reported on a talk show Wednesday that this is a good analogy of what the government is currently doing. I agree. The government initially tried a stimulus package of more than $800 billion that had no effect. Now it is trying to implement another package of more than $900 billion. The mother in California is shocked because she is not receiving the support that she expected, and our Congress is also shocked because it is not receiving the support from taxpayers that it expected.

For those who do not pay taxes, it is great, but for the majority who do pay taxes, it is a disaster.

Watching all this happen, I am reminded of the salesperson who tries to close the sale before the customer leaves the store or show room. He wants you to decide now while you are impulsive rather than go home and think about it. Congress and the administration are doing the same. We are told that this bill must pass now or we will face an even more disastrous situation.

I am always suspicious of those types of tactics and normally walk away. The same is true now. I will walk away and write to my congressional representatives.

Donald J. Myers, a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a regular columnist for Hernando Today. He lives in Spring Hill and can be contacted at dmyersusmc@aol.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT