V.A.T. Cats At Work

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Apr 2010

V.A.T. CATS AT WORK
(stealth moves to pick our pockets)

Here it comes!

Faced with the realities of what their spend-ourselves-out-of debt policies foretell for the future of our country, the Obama Administration and its cohorts in Congress (fresh from their squeaky thin Healthcare Reform win) are now desperately casting about for new ways and means to cover the resulting mounting loads of deficits and debt. Negative financial loads which must inevitably bring on a crashing day of reckoning for us all.

As usual, to camouflage their stealth moves for news ways to pick our pockets for this purpose, they’re calling these –Tax Reform -, with their drum-majorette Miz Nancy primping herself to lead off this new legislative charade, as a grand effort to completely overhaul the tax code (a long overdue and worthwhile endeavor). Only now they’re touting a wonderful way for doing so, called….Value Added Taxation – or V.A.T

To that end they’re also trotting out a variety of economic gurus, including venerable Paul Volker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, to promote and justify the idea. The rationale for that being ….they use it in Europe! Yes, indeed, so they do, but, since when has anything from Europe, besides great cheeses, wines, and possibly haute-couture, and elitist snobbery, been worth importing over here? Most of its economies are either moribund or as dead in the water as any can be. From Sweden to Greece, and in between, European cost of living is twice-three times as high as it should be, but, they still have deficits and debt loads as well. Of course, thanks to V.A.T. most of their “social services” are almost free, so, what-the-hay, that makes it okay!

Here, in America, the last time they tried to import this kind of taxation scheme from Europe (by the British), was in 1775. It was called – The Stamp Act – and became the root cause of our Revolutionary War. That bit of tax legislation by the British Parliament of the of time, much like our Federal government of today, was a desperate attempt to get more revenues to cover its debt and deficit loads or face bankruptcy. Much like today’s concept of V.A.T., the Stamp Act permeated and impacted on all private and public transactions of whatever kind. Without a stamp on their bills and documents, nothing was legal. V.A.T. is identical to that, only dressed up in modern-day clothes. Like the hated Stamp Act it would affect every private and public transaction of any kind in our country.

Here’s an example of how V.A.T. works. The farmer who grows wheat, would add V.A.T. when selling his crop. The mill that bought that crop to process into flour, would add V.A.T. when selling that flour to a bakery. The bakery would add V.A.T to its price when selling its resulting products to a food distributor. The distributor would add V.A.T. for the delivery of those products to a food market. The food market would add V.A.T. to its selling price to the end….consumer. In short, what might have formerly only cost two dollars, would now cost three, even four dollars. That’s the impact of V.A.T. on the cost of living for everyone. Of course, rich folks, like members of Congress, could afford it. The rest of us would just have to go suck eggs (stolen, not bought, ’cause then we’d have to pay V.A.T. for them!).

So where would this flood of V.A.T. revenues go? You guessed it, right into the sticky fingers and coffers of our Federales. Does anyone really believe that they would then apply these piles of revenue towards balanced budgets, and lowering our debt? Much like any addicted junkie, they would simply continue carrying on with their wasteful spendthrift ways.

There is a much greater problem, and danger, from such a V.A.T. concept. It is an insidious way to further centralize power at the Federal level. States would then have to come to it to beg for their share of those revenues, making the Federal government in an even stronger position to dictate how and in what way the States could spend those funds. Its economic and political agendas would over ride the needs and wants of the States, laying the foundation for never-ending conflict between it and the States.

Those that ignore the design of our federal structure which, unlike Europe, separates government powers (which include taxation) between the central/federal and state authorities, would leave us with only a shell of it. The founders of our republic completely rejected the notion of a culture of dependency on a central government for most of our wants and needs, because that would be just abandoning one old tyranny for a new one. Imposing a Federal V.A.T. would destroy the delicately designed and balanced system they created with our Constitution. A system which has been the mainstay of our economic, political, and social stability as a nation. We would end up as just another banana republic like so many others in this world.

If we let these V.A.T. Cats have their way we might have to rename the White House – Meow Mix Hall -, and the Congress – The ALPO Palace – because, by them, we would have become well-fed, but chained up, pet…..dogs!

CENTURION