While some people complain about their brothers-in-law .......

[Stinky The Clown]

..... mine are pure gems.

The one who sent this missive to the family today makes me look like a conservative ...... herewith, without fact checking:

So... with all the Tax Day tea-bagging going on in the main stream echo-chamber today I thought I would add a few cents worth... consider that:

- Our income tax was first introduced by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 as a way to pay for the Civil War

- In 1938, just after England declared war on Germany and before any British troops set foot on European soil,
England instituted an "Excess Profits Tax" (EPT)... An additional tax on all profits earned in the UK over and above what was then considered "fair" (initially 10%). The EPT started at 40%... then went to 60% and by 1945 was a full 100%

- FDR adopted the EPT in this country after the US entered the War in 1941

- Dwight Eisenhower adopted the same EPT during the Korean War

- George W. Bush is the only world leader in history to both start a war, and cut taxes in the same year

- In 2001, Donald Rumsfeld admitted that The Pentagon "could not account for" over $2 Trillion (T).

- This year, The Pentagon will receive 53% of the total federal revenue

- Prior to the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, corporate taxes accounted for over 30% of total US revenue...
today, though we are fighting two wars, corporate taxes account for 7%

- Though the US has some of the highest corporate tax schedules (on paper) in the industrialized world,
She also has some of the most liberal subsidies, rebates, kick-backs and loopholes meaning that, at the end of the day... Our actual collected corporate taxes... are the lowest in the industrialized world.

Example: Exxon Mobil, the world's most profitable corporation, posted a $40.6 Billion profit in 2007. It was able to top that amount with a $45.2 Billion profit in 2008. In 2009, the price of oil fell and as a result Exxon's profit fell to a mere $19.3 Billion. Of that 19 Billion, Exxon paid millions in foreign taxes - but by utilizing offshore accounts and under the guidance of an army of business managers and tax attorneys, Exxon Mobil will pay no US federal taxes on the $19 Billion earned in 2009 (so much for excess profit tax). Avoiding its US tax obligation did however cost Exxon-Mobil $29 Million in lobbying fees.

Contrary to what the teabaggers marching in Washington believe, we the people are not over-taxed, we are under-served. And some (including the corporations who feed them their talking points) do not pay their fair share.

In Denmark, a socialist country, a person with a minimum wage job earns the equivalent of over $18 per hour. Of that, their federal tax obligation will be about 53%, leaving them with about $9 per hour take-home. That Danish citizen will in turn receive cradle-to-grave health care, six weeks paid vacation, one year paid maternity leave, and a pension. When that person becomes old and frail, they receive elder/hospice care. Nobody in their family will be faced with a medical bill or tuition fee up to, and including, post-graduate studies. Danish children will receive proper nutrition and day care will be provided until they reach school age.

The minimum wage in the US today is $7.25 (pre-tax)...

[rurallib]

1. could I marry you so I could get nice BILs also?

[stanwyck]

2. I have 3 brothers-in-law I'll trade you

for yours.