Better To Murder Than Commit Insurance Fraud

I am here to attest that there is much to be learned from the commercial media. Not only can you find out which television set has a sharper picture, or which after shave is guaranteed to drive the women wild, you can also garner enlightened knowledge that will challenge your misconceived notions. To what am I referring you may ask. Let me explain.I, like most people I’m sure, always thought that theft was always wrong no matter who the victim of theft was. In other words, whether you steal $50.00 from a millionaire or the regular middle class working man or woman next door, it is still an act of theft. But alas, I was wrong in that assessment. Indeed, the seriousness of the crime is based on the status of the victim, not on the act itself.How do I know this? The other evening while watching TV, a commercial came on about insurance fraud. It showed a woman being arrested for committing insurance fraud and the spot went on to explain that because of this woman’s shameful act, in addition to earning her husband’s consternation, her children rightfully deserve to be picked on at school and her friends had the right to spread nasty rumors about her.I am so glad that I was lucky enough not to be fixing my self a snack or grabbing a glass of iced tea when that spot aired on prime time television or else I would have still held the unenlightened and old-fashioned idea that all theft was equally bad. I also am glad that I saw the commercial because I didn’t realize before that the punishment for the sins of the perpetrator, in this case the mother, could be passed on to her children. I would have never known that it is okay for the kids at school to pick on this woman’s children because she chose to defraud her insurance company!And since I have never heard of this idea in connection with any other charge of fraud or theft, I can only assume that it is only okay to carry out the punishment to extended family members when the theft is against an insurance company. Why couldn’t this mother have chosen to rob the local supermarket instead of the insurance company and saved her poor children this rightfully deserved, according to the commercial, abuse at the hands of their classmates?I was also able to learn something else from that commercial. Not only is theft by insurance fraud more serious than any other theft, but it must also be more serious than rape or murder. Think about it, have you ever seen a television spot that claims that a murderer or rapist’s children should be harassed by their peers? I haven’t.So the lessons I take from that spot are these: one, Theft against an insurance company is worse than any other theft and warrants punishing by their peers the children of the one who defrauded. Two, Theft against an insurance company is even worse than rape or murder because there has never been, to my knowledge, a commercial stating that the child of a rapist or murderer deserves punishment by their peers.I guess it is high time I get with the program and rid myself of the old-fashioned idea that murder and rape may be a bit more serious than theft and also that all theft is equally wrong no matter who the victim is. And also, I need to rid myself of that equally antiquated notion that only the criminal himself or herself should be punished for the crime committed.So, if you ever turn to a life of crime, you should choose to be a murderer or maybe a robber of mom and pop stores, but don’t never commit insurance fraud. Your children will thank you.

IRS Needs To Be Held Accountable

I’ve been thinking lately that there is a bit of a double standard with the way the tax system in the United States works. Okay, it’s not a little bit of a double standard. In fact it is the epitome of double standards, but I though I’d try to begin my essay on a more positive note. Okay, I guess when we are discussing taxes there is not positive note, so I might as well not even try to sugar coat what is as bitter and twelve hour old coffee.
The double standard is this: we are required by the IRS to provide proof of every source of income we have. We are required to provide a completed W2 form from our employers and also to furnish all interest payment information. Additionally, they demand that we itemize our deductions such as mortgage interest or child care. If we have business expenses, we need to provide receipts of those as well. All of this is required to make sure that we don not receive any deductions that we do not deserve and also to ensure that every dollar earned by us is accounted for and taxed. Yes, the IRS goes to great lengths to make certain that nobody keeps more of their hard earned money than what the IRS deems is their just due.
And as we all know, once our money is in their possession, they will fight tooth and nail to make certain that the money stays with them. Anyone who has ever tried to get any assistance from the government knows about all the red tape that needs to be cut through in order to get a pittance for
assistance. In fact, the only time the government is generous with our money is when it comes to paying itself. All politicians have to do is vote themselves a pay increase and there it is, no strings attached.
Well, I suggest, no I demand that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. I demand that before I file my taxes, I want the IRS to provide me with the same thing that they demand of me. I want to see an itemized list to account for every penny of my tax dollars. What percentage goes to defense? What percentage goes to social programs, to salaries, etc? I mean, with the present system, do we really know what our tax dollars are spent on? It is only fair, since we have to account for every penny earned and every deduction taken, that the government should be required to furnish the taxpayer with an itemized list of where every penny we are taxed goes to.
Now, while the IRS has the muscle of the entire federal government behind it to enforce compliance on our part, we may feel that we have no muscle power of our own. Actually, Thomas Jefferson would disagree with that assessment. Remember that the author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president wrote that governments are instituted "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." That is quite a bit of power indeed! We as citizens of this country do not need any more power, we just need to realize and exercise the power that we already have.
So when the IRS, sends you their tax forms with the reminder that you must file before April 15th. Send them your own little reminder that you will not be filing your taxes until they furnish you with an itemized list to account for every last penny they stole from you. Now, I’m sure the IRS will not take too kindly to this, but that is because the giant which is we the people, has been asleep and as a result the IRS has gotten a little too arrogant and power hungry like the rest of the government and has forgotten their place in the dichotomy of freedom. The sleeping giant must awake and put the IRS back in its proper place.
Let’s make this April 15th be a day of dread for the IRS instead of we the people. It sounds like a nice change doesn’t it?