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I'm a strong supporter of the use of sales and excise taxes in place of an income tax. It looks as though Missouri may be the first state in the nation to use a version of this known as the Fair Tax. I've posted a few excepts regarding this below.
The last excerpt raises an interesting question; should private schools be exempted from this tax? I would have to say yes, as long as public schools are supported with tax dollars. I say this for the same reason that I believe vouchers should be issued to taxpayers that choose to educate their children outside of the government system. You shouldn't have to pay twice for the same service others pay only once for. But I would take that further. I believe that all taxes collected to support education should be collected locally and spent locally. There is no reason for the state, much less the federal government to have any say in how my children are educated. The parents should be involved in the entire educational process, from hiring the teachers to establishing the curriculum. Keeping the money local would insure that.
There is an old one room school house just down the road from where I live. I drive by it all the time and think of how well that old system worked, bringing us Jefferson, Madison, Thoreau and George Washington Carver. Some were educated in the public schools, some at home and some learned on their own; but all were educated without teachers unions and government interference. The system worked then and it will work now.
Another objection raised to the fair tax in the same article is that the increase in taxes on goods sold will drive consumers across the border to shop in neighboring states. Missouri is "the" border state with eight states adjoining our border so this may be a valid observation. However, the law as it is written will only increase the current sales tax by .885 percent. I find it hard to believe that with this minor increase in cost many people will drive very far to save a couple bucks when gas is $3 per gallon. It just wouldn't make sense.
I like the Fair Tax but not as a stand alone piece of legislation. If the fair tax is going to be enacted it needs to include a Constitutional Amendment that makes it impossible to reinstate the income tax and all of the other taxes it replaces. From what I understand, the Missouri proposal does not include this. For this reason I cannot support it. I talked to someone at Missouri State Senator Griesheimer's office today and he confirmed my fears. Of course, he assured me that it would never happen. Right.
I'm glad that the discussion is happening and I hope that a Fair Tax is eventually passed in Missouri and in America. We just need to make sure it's done right. These damned politicians cannot be trusted. They'll find a way to screw us. Keep your eyes on 'em.
"SCS/SJR 29 - Upon voter approval, this proposed constitutional amendment replaces the state individual and corporate income tax, the corporate and bank franchise tax and state sales and use tax with a tax on the sale, use, or consumption of taxable property and services equal to five and eleven-one hundredths percent beginning January 1, 2012."
Missouri Senate
"The Missouri House gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the state income tax and replace it with a FairTax system.
The proposal would raise the state sales tax from 4.225 percent to 5.11 percent and eliminate the 6 percent personal income tax and 6.25 percent corporate income tax on business earnings. Accompanying the sales tax rate hike would be a substantially broadened sales tax base that would include all purchases. Estate taxes would remain on the books.
The proposal would create the distribution of a monthly tax rebate check to cover the cost of any taxes incurred up to the federal poverty level, which is $26,000 for a family of four."
Fair Tax Blog
"Normally I’d be enthused about a tax simplification scheme, but a proposal being heard in the Missouri Senate this week is simply stupid. SJR 29 would seek to replace all corporate and individual income taxes with a state sales tax on all products and services sold in Missouri. The tax would apply not only to traditional retail items, but to services like private and parochial school tuition, apartment rentals and the purchase of new homes.
The Missouri bill is modeled on a national proposal called the “Fair Tax” which has more merit if applied on a national scale. But since Missouri is the most bordered state in the union, the effect of a Missouri-only Fair Tax would lead to a massive exodus of retail spending from the state, and in places like Kansas City, a massive exodus of citizens.
Beyond these depressive effects, there is a central injustice in the proposal – charging parents who sacrifice to send their children to private or parochial schools a sales tax on the tuition they pay. The tax is initially pegged at 5.11 percent, but could go significantly higher if it does not achieve the revenue collected under the current system."
Catholic Key
For those that say the War Between the States is ancient history and has no bearing on current affairs, welcome to Missouri!!
"City government leaders renewed their push to place the St. Louis Police Department under local control Monday at a lengthy hearing in Jefferson City.
Supporters of the legislation say returning control of the St. Louis police force to City Hall would increase transparency and accountability. Mayor Francis Slay, who has long campaigned for ending the state control, testified before the House Special Committee on Urban Issues in favor of the bill, saying returning the police department to local control would make for a better department...
The St. Louis Police Department Board of Commissioners has run the department since the Civil War, when pro-slavery officials in the capital wanted control of the anti-slavery city's armory. Kansas City is the only other American city of comparable size with a police department controlled by the state."
STL Today
The state was given authority over the St. Louis police by the Federal Government after the elected government of Missouri was driven from the state and a Union puppet government had been installed. The purpose was to protect the arsenal at St. Louis. However, this form of Police Board was common in the country at the time. Most had switched to local control by 1900. But not my beloved state of Missouri.
I really need to read up on this issue if I can find some good history about it. My guess is that since by the early 1880's Missouri politics were once again in firm command of the Southern Democrat interests, they may have found control useful since the real hotbeds of Unionism and Republican support could be found primarily in our two largest cities. Control of the police would have been useful in controlling the polls, along with the use of the local muscle, such as Egan's Rats and later on Harry Truman's benefactor, Boss Tom Pendergast.
Anyway, I just thought that it's interesting how history never really goes away. We are affected by it every day of our lives. Those that fail to pay attention to it do so at their own peril. Nearly everything that is happening today has happened before, to one extent or another. If you want to know what's coming you just have to look backwards to see what has happened.
Learn your history to prepare for our immediate future. We are doing nearly the same things that we did after the 1929 crash, things which deepened the depression and prolonged the pain. Why should it be any different this time around?
"A new billboard off of Interstate 70 in Missouri provides a short “citizens guide to REVOLUTION of a corrupt government” and issues a call to “PREPARE FOR WAR.”
This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.” It’s unclear who the owner of the billboard is, but the first one was the work of a “Missouri businessman.”
While it’s unclear who owns it, the Lafayette County Republican Central Committee seems to endorse it."
EU Times
(H/T Gateway Pundit)
For those that are unfamiliar with my beloved state of Missouri I'll like to give you a bit of history. It all begins in another state, or at least a place that was soon to acquire statehood. Its name, Kansas.
Bleeding Kansas!
In 1854 Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska act creating the territories of both Kansas and Nebraska. In the process this act nullified the Missouri Compromise and opened territories North of the 36th parallel (approx.) to slavery. Popular Sovereignty was written into the proposal in an attempt to satisfy both sides of the slavery issue. In reality, it began a war along the Kansas-Missouri border that in seven years would become the American Civil War.
The war fought in this area was nothing like the comparatively civilized warfare in the East. It was a war of retribution. Scores were settled. Families and towns, even entire regions were destroyed. Missouri was the site of the third highest number of battles during the war. It was fighting at its most personal level. Men hung in front of their children and wives raped in front of their husbands. Executions and mutilated bodies were the norm. Both sides fought under the black flag. The single greatest atrocity of the war occurred here at Centralia.
After executing 23 unarmed Union soldiers at the train depot, Bloody Bill Anderson lured a detachment of soldiers under the command of Major A.V.E. Johnson four miles from town. In a matter of minutes 123 soldiers along with their commander lay dead. Participants reported that after the battle and the complete destruction of the Union forces the mutilation of the corpses was so complete that not a head was attached to the body it started with.
I write this to try and put this billboard in context. Lafayette County is the heart of guerrilla country. Less than an hours drive East of Kansas City this area of the state saw some of the worst fighting. To see this sign here is to see a very clear signal of what is ahead. I know that this may sound like crazy talk but I know my state and the people that live in it, especially the rural areas. We are but a few generations removed from Anderson, Dave Poole, Archie Clement and the James boys. In attitude we are not far removed at all.
This billboard stands as clear and irrefutable proof that we are returning to those years that led up to the war. The nation is simmering, nearing a boil. Our political leaders and so many others are blind to this. But the signs are all around us, if you are willing to open your eyes.
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