Statewide Amendment 1, or taxation is theft
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Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
As I write this, we are one week away from the 2022 Alabama Republican and Democratic primaries to be held on Tuesday, May 24.
In addition to candidates running for official offices, there is Statewide Amendment 1:
“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, authorizing the issuance and sale of general obligation bonds of the State of Alabama of up to $85,000,000 for the purposes of the improvement, renovation, equipping, acquisition, provision, construction, and maintenance of Alabama state parks under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and public historical sites and public historical parks under the jurisdiction of the Alabama Historical Commission.”
A “yes” vote supports amending the state constitution to issue up to $85 million in bonds for improvement, renovation, acquisition, construction, and maintenance of state parks managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and historical sites managed by the Alabama Historical Commission.
A “no” vote opposes amending the state constitution to issue up to $85 million in bonds for improvement, renovation, acquisition, construction, and maintenance of state parks managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and historical sites managed by the Alabama Historical Commission.
My question is this: Where have our prior tax dollars gone to, and where have the park admission fees gone to, if they were not used for the improvement, renovation, acquisition, construction, and maintenance of Alabama’s state parks as managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and historical sites managed by the Alabama Historical Commission?
Every employee who works in the state of Alabama has Alabama taxes taken directly from their paycheck before what is left from their earned pay is deposited into their bank account. Presumably, the State of Alabama has been good stewards of our tax dollars, and has all along been judiciously frugal with the people’s money, and has all along already made improvements, renovations, acquisitions, construction, and maintenance for all of Alabama’s state parks.
In theory, the State of Alabama should have some of the most well-maintained state parks in our nation! If we do not, then where did our money go?
How much is “enough”? How much of each citizen’s hard-earned pay is enough to run our government?
Alabama currently collects $2,397 per capita in taxes, so with a population of 4,949,697 citizens, our state is currently raking in an estimated total of $11.864 billion in tax revenue. And now our politicians want to float a bond for another $85 million to do public work that should have been done with funds already taken from “We the People.”
I’m sorry, but as much as I love our state, and our parks, and our historical sites, I take no delight in being a tax slave, for if taking 100% of the fruits of a person’s labor is considered slavery, then at what percent of taking their labor does it cease to be slavery? As I see it, all taxation is nothing more than theft writ large.
If I had my druthers, I would mandate that all funding of government be done through “gofundme.” If it is truly worthwhile, people will donate the needed funds, and if there is no interest, then there will be no need to finance any project not deemed worthwhile by the citizenry.
But taxation at gunpoint is our currently existing system. (If you do not believe me, then refuse to pay taxes, and then count the days before people with guns come to lock you up.) With the current system, the only voice that “We the People” still have, is through the ballot box.
If you are currently feeling the pain of Joe Biden’s initiated inflation, coupled with Kay Ivey’s increased gas tax, then it is up to you to finally say that enough is enough and to vote “NO” to any increases to the tax burden of citizens, and to vote out of office any incumbent who has increased the tax burden upon your shoulders.