Reason.tv: Taxes—The Price We Pay For Civilization

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society," said legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

As students of Buck v. Bell could tell you, Holmes had a habit of being monstrously wrong, but if he's right about taxes and civilization, it's certainly worth asking whether we're getting what we pay for.

Approximately 1.06 minutes. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie.

For iPod, HD, and audio versions of this and all other Reason vids, go to Reason.tv.

To watch on YouTube, go here.

Comments

[Dr. Nick]

Ahhh kyay that was a little strange...

[hfdsga]

I'd have to agree. Kind of an amateurish video.

[Joe Walters]

Obama administration seems to be more serious in resolving the major issues like health to make a more civilized livelihood.

[What The]

"Thinking of nuclear policy seems to be ridiculous. It takes in such promising revenge and intimidation that are dreadfully vicious afar from our imagination. The reason to work-out is to put off the war primarily."

Is English your first language?
Is Earth your first planet?

[Wesley]

We are being infiltrated by The Borg -- resistance is futile.

[TP]

Taxes?The Price We Pay For Civilization

Creeping (monetary) Inflation - The price we pay for a stable and robust economy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The president saw a touchdown in 3D?

[smartass sob]

Taxes?The Price We Pay For Civilization

I thought it was the fees we pay to one group of thugs, thieves, and slavers for keeping all the other thugs, thieves and slavers from horning in on the first group's franchise.

[US Board of Propaganda]

Protection money is only part of it. Think of all the things we keep you from enjoying that might harm you in any way. Think of the way we beat minorities for your benefit. Think of the little brown people we torture and kill on your behalf.

When you look at the whole picture, I think you'll see that a true value we are.

[smartass sob]

You'll have to pardon me for finding it difficult to believe you all would put my interests ahead of your own. Some may call me cynical, but I'm just odd that way.

[Episiarch]

True! If I went to the mafia and paid them protection money, they'd let me do harmful things to myself if I so chose, gamble, and probably not beat many minorities. Thanks for providing much more service for each dollar of my payoff!

[John]

very true. Of course they would kill you and your family when you missed a payment.

[Episiarch]

At least they wouldn't kill me doing a dynamic entry into my house because somebody anonymously told them I was growing pot.

I mean, at least with the mafia, once you pay your protection money, they pretty much leave you alone.

[Pope Jimbo]

The upside is that the Mafia has a very easy to understand formula for payment. You don't need to pay a professional to fill out a ton of forms to figure out what your liability is.

And you also don't have to worry about audits. If the Mafia thinks you cheated them they will simply shoot you and be done with it.

[Ben in DC]

This is terrible. It is too short to make its point, if it has one. I am all for showing abuses of power and government, but there are enough to focus on them for more than 15 seconds after the (too long) beginning bait and switch portion of the video...

[Rich]

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

And the price we pay for taxes is ...? A lotta guys would be willing to pay fewer taxes and receive less "civilization".

[The Sudan]

Then come live here! Low taxes, no functioning government, what's not to like?

[Fail!]

Fewer taxes and less government =/= no taxes and no government. Troll moar effectively, plz.

[Scotch Hamilton]

You mean taxes do pay for civilization?

Sounds like you agree with Holmes then.

[SugarFree]

Civilization is not synonymous with government, fuckass.

D- trolling as always.

[Scotch Hamilton]

You can't have one without the other, as much as your childish dreams may tell you otherwise.

[SugarFree]

Yes, I'm the childish one, expecting the government to feed and clothe me from cradle to grave.

Sorry, but no more troll-bait for you, shitbrains.

[Scotch Hamilton]

You are indeed childish, with your constant whining about having to follow rules and pay taxes and delusions that what you have was not earned with a lot of help.

[WTF]

What I have earned was done with very little help from the government - and pretty much no help from the government that I didn't already PAY FOR - with my taxes, from the money I EARNED.

So don't try to tell me I owe the government something more, because the shining and noble government has somehow made my very existence possible.

You also seem to continually be suffering from the delusion that libertarians = anarchists.

[wylie]

suffering from the delusion that libertarians = anarchists.

well, because to statist pieces of shit, less-gov't = no-gov't

[Good Lt.]

well, because to statist pieces of shit, less-gov't = no-gov'tThey correctly realize that a reduction in the size and scope of government = marked reduction in their ability to "affect change" and to loot, mooch or steal from productive individuals.

[tkwelge]

I have received a lot of benefits from the government myself, but the benefits that I received were without my consent. I also figure that I have to pay a price (well, we all do) for taxes in the form of a depressed economy and less opportunities than I otherwise could have had.

THe biggest benefit that I have received from government is public education, and saying that public education is a "benefit" is like saying that being provided a bed to sleep in in a prison is a "benefit."

[tkwelge]

I think a person can be a libertarian and still have received government benefits at some point. I hate the way that people assume that just because you are a libertarian, you must hate people who use government benefits. However, my anger is with the system imposed by some over others, not the people who interact with it.

The idea that receiving a government benefit takes away your right to complain about the government is akin to believing that if I lend you a shovel to irrigate your crops, you somehow have no right to complain if I walk up in your house and start demanding things.

THe statist will then argue, "If you don't like the system, you can move to a deserted island and make a go of it there!"

[wylie]

The deserted island keeps looking better.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Scotch, it's not the rules and taxes themselves... it's the sheer bulk of both. More does not always mean better.

[Nitrim-Quest]

Wow, such eloquence ... the volume and abusive languages cannot make up for the none-sense you are sewing.

[sage]

I think you mean Somalia...DRINK!

[wylie]

Yarrrrrrrrrrr!

[HMM]

Was only missing this image.

Kinda artsy, kinda kool. Even for a degenerates with lilttle taste.

[robc]

I work on the assumption that everything the OWH, Jr ever said is wrong.

[robc]

Also on the assumption that every post of mine has a horrible mistake in it.

"...everything that...".

Both assumptions are pretty safe.

[Warty]

That was excellent.

[P B]

I still have my receipt, can I get my money back now?!

[Class Warfare Specialist]

Yeah! And you rich fuckers, you know who you are - yes, you pricks making more than 100K a year, you need to be paying 90 cents on the dollar. Suck it up.

No, on EVERY dollar over that amount, rich cocksuckers. You'd be lucky to keep a dime per buck "earned" after stepping on the necks of the poor to get it in the first place.

[Chad]

You're talkin' MY language!

[Wegie]

That's because you're a god damn idiot.

[franz kafka]

goddamn

[wylie]

"got'damn" would also be acceptable.

[Tabula Rasa]

Just because our chosen career paths mean we earn more money means we pay for you? I'm assuming you're not one of these "rich cocksuckers"? I mean, I'm sure you'd voluntarily give away every cent over 100k you made, though. But I'm thinking your level of incompetency is a bit below that threshold.

[robc]

Is sarcasm that hard to detect?

[WTF]

Only if the master fuse in your sarcasm detector is completely blown. That one was over the top and should not require a meter to detect.

[Pope Jimbo]

Move to sunny Minnesota!

Our local government employee union just unveiled its new ad campaign to Tax the Rich because otherwise we'll have to fire all the cops, teachers and firefighters (2 of 3 isn't bad).

Surprisingly there has been criticism of the ad from the reactionary jerks who want to keep the common man down. Not surprisingly, threats have been made from the Tea Party!

[swillfredo pareto]

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society," said legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

I would give anything to have the Federal Government the size it was in 1927 when Holmes made that idiotic statement.

[Scotch Hamilton]

Yeah, the Great Depression was no doubt a blast.

[Episiarch]

SHUT UP DANNY DEVITO

[Scotch Hamilton]

No, seriously. I wish we had small government so the financial collapse of 2008 could have sent everybody but the ultrarich into destitute.

[.]

If we had had a very small government, there probably wouldn't have been a financial collapse of 2008.

[AJs]

what . said

[Juice]

Wasn't it the central bank's reckless monetary policies that spurned the depression (and the 2008 crash)?

[Mike]

There's a new update on the Huffington! Run along now...

[swillfredo pareto]

Yeah, the Great Depression was no doubt a blast.

I am curious because I want to know what the dullard on the street thinks. Are you saying that the world wide Great Depression happened because United States government spending leading in to it was too low? That does very little to explain the 1930's where government spending grew tremendously while the U.S. economy went nowhere. It only became a Great Depression once the government started fucking around. Up until then it was only a good one.

[barfman]

*barf*

[Good Lt.]

The Great Depression, as every individual knows, was caused by a SEVERE LACK OF HEAVY TAXATION ON 'THE RICH.'

Duh.

[wylie]

How else could the dude in Monopoly afford those Top Hats and Monocles.

[R C Dean]

The first problem with Holmes' pithy little statement is that it doesn't admit of any limitation on taxes.

In fact, it can easily be read to imply that more taxes = more civilization.

Holmes FAIL.

[Scotch Hamilton]

It can't be read that way at all, what Holmes is saying is no different than saying you don't mind paying the bill at a restaurant because it bought you food.

[barfman]

*barf*

[Sudden]

And paying a higher bill would get you more or better food. So the implied relationship exists: more taxes = more civilization.

[AJs]

...but the bill needs to enough to cover the expenses with a little bit left over, but not too much that it prevents the customer from being able to buy any future meals - thus bankrupting the restaurant because it has no customers. I think most people - even on this site - are not opposed to paying some form of taxes, I just don't like being forced to pay Lobster and caviar prices for a can of refried beans which is what those of us in the income bracket that we actually pay income taxes get. See I can make silly food analogies too!

[St. V]

That's a silly analogy.
1.) I buy the food at a restaurant, they don't buy me food. Therefore, I am only paying for what I want, and the price is listed before hand so I can make an informed decision.
2.) If a restaurant brought me food I did not want, I sure as hell wouldn't be "ok" with paying for it.

Your analogy, sir, is lacking.

[creech]

Holmes had it exactly backward. Taxes are what we pay because we aren't yet civilized. (i.e. if we were, we'd each pay market prices for the goods and services we need and want; civilized people don't need to be coerced into paying for things they use or for things others use.)

[John]

That is exactly right. We have a civilization of people who mostly follow the rules and that enables us to efficiently collect taxes and have a government. It is not the other way around. If taxes created civilization, failed states would be easy to fix. You just come in and raise taxes and fix everything. But it doesn't work that way. You have to have civilization before you can have the working government.

[Unemployed Worker]

Yes, let's get rid of taxes...my family and I will gladly starve to death here on your streets.

[John]

Yes because there is no such thing as private charity. Oddly Americans never starved to death for 100s of years before the welfare state. I wonder why that was. Must have been some kind of a miracle.

F- level trolling douchbag.

[Scotch Hamilton]

If "private charity" worked so well, why did the people demand larger government instead?

Wait, let me guess: everybody is stupid except for the libertarian fringe.

[John]

For the same reason that people demanded the facists take over the German government; they mistakenly beleived it was a good idea. Now, 70 years into big government, we are going broke and it is a failure. That means it is time to try something else.

You are dumb even for a liberal. Really, do you think "people voted for it" means that it was a good idea?

[Butts Wagner]

Isn't it more akin to the fact that people will vote for what they wish for, rather than voting based on reality? The winner of every class election in grade school is the kid who promises better cafeteria food. Do they ever deliver? The only difference between grade school and DC is that picking a bad prom theme is not nearly as detrimental to me as picking a higher income tax rate to apply to me.

[Alan]

You forgot the "Coca-cola in the drinking fountains" promise. Always a good vote-getter for the elementary set.

It strikes me that this is somewhat akin to the "Winner's Curse" at auctions - where the winner of the auction is the bidder who was most insanely optimistic about its value. In this case, the winner of an election will be the politician who can believably make the most insanely optimistic promises - and the whole society shares the curse.

[Cosmotarian Overlord]

If invading Iraq was such a bad idea then why did people vote for it three times?

[Ryan Moore]

Libertarian fringe is, in latest Rasmussen poll, statistically indifferent from supporters of President Obama. If 2012 presidential election were held today Dr. Ron Paul would garner 41% to the community organizer's 42%. http://www.rasmussenreports.co.....on_paul_41

[I, Kahn O'Clast]

Well there was some starvation back then just as there are pockets of hunger today in spite of the welfare state. The reason that it was so much less was because we were less urbanized and more people fed themselves and their immediate family. When my great uncles were out of work they would move back on the farm and help out as much as they could and be fed and housed for it. That was common. Harder to envision today since most farmland is used for mono-cultures and few provide balanced output (fruit, veg, etc.)

Not saying I support government (I do not) nor Holmes argument (I don't either) and I do agree with creech above .... but people of a libertarian bent should avoid claiming there was some much better period that government has since screwed up. It was better for some, worse for others, and that's why the welfare state has grown trying to bring the worse of up without realizing that on a net basis the whole is harmed.

[wylie]

Oddly Americans never starved to death for 100s of years before the welfare state.

Even oddlier, Americans are still starving. Nice work Welfare.

[hmmm]

I'm not sure how I feel about the word 'oddlier'.

[John]

http://www.windsofchange.net/a.....a_gun.html

Your tax dollars at work.

[Warty]

Recording cops is quite the affront to their authoritah, isn't it? John, you should somehow become a prosecutor and start declining to take cases like this. See how long before you're disbarred.

[Wegie]

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society," said legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr."
He was legendary because he was so fucking stupid!

[Warty]

That quote is commonly misquoted. What he actually said is "Texans are the price we pay for a civilized society". It makes much more sense after you learn that.

[Episiarch]

Wrong, you rotund nincompoop. He said "tacos are the price we pay for a civilized sobriety." Which makes no sense, but hey, when did Holmes ever make sense?

[Warty]

His habit of shouting "Dryer!" in crowded theaters really should have made people doubt his sanity.

[Episiarch]

"Every beverage is grape when grapely perused."

[Warty]

"A near and pleasant strangler."

[Episiarch]

"Even for practice purposes Astroglide generally turns out the most important thing in the end."

[SugarFree]

"A person is always startled when he hears himself called stupid for the first time."

[SugarFree]

"It is very lonely sometimes, trying to play God."

Oh, wait... he actually said that.

[Warty]

"Three generations of imbeciles are enough"

Oh wait, my bad, that was real.

[Episiarch]

This isn't any fun if you use his real, horrific quotations, you tools. Idiots.

"Do not be bullied out of your common sense by the archivist; two to one, he is a pedophile."

[Warty]

My mistake, I accidentally a real one.

"Man's anus, once stretched by a new sasquatch, never regains its original dimensions."

[SugarFree]

He did, at least, anticipate internet trolls:

"Stupidity often saves a man from going mad."

[SugarFree]

"The Almond of nature is always a flour."

[Episiarch]

"Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about Joe Eszterhas."

[Warty]

"To obtain a man's opinion of you, rape him."

[tenletters]

A man walking down the street with his hands in his pockets can feel mighty cocky.

[SugarFree]

"Love prefers Twilight to Daylight."

Note the our Reason masters:

THE "NO MORE THAN THREE LINKS" RULE SUCKS MONKEY ASS!

[SugarFree]

"Lube is the master key that opens the gates of happiness."

[Episiarch]

"He has half the weed done who has made a two-chambered bong."

[Warty]

"My right to swing my balls begins where the other man's mouth ends."

[Sudden]

Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse. One comfort we have - Obama sounds worse.

[Sudden]

"Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse. One comfort we have - Obama sounds worse."

[Sniktpool]

I love this thread

[Tim]

Axes are the vice we pay for deforestation.

[Sudden]

Don't flatter yourself that sexual relations authorize you to say dirty things to your intimates. The nearer you come into orgasm with a person, the more necessary do tact and a courtesy reach arouund become.

[Cyto]

"Three generations of imbeciles are enough"

Oh wait, my bad, that was real.

Worse, that horrific decision was nearly unanimous - and the lone dissenter declined to pen a dissent.

A decision which has never been overturned, btw.

[TotalState?]

"I would hope that a wise Latrine Woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion."

[OWH]

"Three fenestrations of window sills is tough"

[OWH]

Doh!

[wylie]

He said "tacos are the price we pay for a civilized sobriety." Which makes no sense

Nah, it makes sense. Tacos in the belly leads to more civilized drunkeness. Or something like that.

[John]

"Recording cops is quite the affront to their authoritah, isn't it? John, you should somehow become a prosecutor and start declining to take cases like this. See how long before you're disbarred."

The disbarment would come shortly after I mysteriously blew a .17 for the third time in the span of a week after being pulled over for "driving erratically" and despite claims by my wife that her and not me was driving the car in each instance.

I have a good friend who teaches at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Even he admits that most of his students are just bullies who have grown up and decided to take revenge on the world by getting a badge and a gun.

[Warty]

Bullies, or victims of bullying? Both make sense, I guess.

[John]

Both I think.

[robc]

So why doesnt he weed out most of his students?

[John]

He doesn't have the power to do that. And they meet standard. But it is obvious what they are.

[Steff]

There's no way for them to have a note put into their transcripts about how they act? Maybe put some departments off from hiring them?

Blargh. I hate those. One got put in a federal pen a few years ago a few towns over when he decided to plow into a civilian vehicle while running to play backup on a non-violent, non-dangerous stop.

[John]

They are all federal law enforcement. They already have jobs and are being sent to training for them.

[Fail!]

Man, that's even worse. I think the Fed needs to stay the Hell out of law enforcement; if it were up to the individual communities to police (or hire people to police), this kind of thing would be less of a problem. At BEST, the only position that the fed should have would be coordination and investigation to catch actual interstate criminals, but have no arrest powers.

[Steff]

WTF. The idea that these people were even hired in the first place is kind of disheartening.

[robc]

This is why Ive suggested that the police academies give a psych profile test and refuse to accept anyone who scores above average (of total population) on "craving of authority" or some similar characteristic.

[SugarFree]

A guy I know who didn't get in to the police academy took and failed a psych exam as part of the application process. I think it was the MMPI 2 from how he described it, which a chimp could game to look sane. I think he was turned down for being a really easy-going and fair-minded person.

[robc]

So teaching doesnt involve the ability to fail them? Thats lame.

[P Brooks]

The road to Hell is paved with the bleached skulls of people like Oliver Wendell Holmes.

[P Brooks]

Bernanke is addressing the Nation.

Fuck you, Bennay.

[P Brooks]

"most of his students are just bullies baboons who have grown up and decided to take revenge on the world by getting a badge and a gun."

[Suck it up Crybaby]

Where does it stop? Through over taxation, civilizations crumble. Taxation corrupts government.
http://www.suckitupcrybaby.com

[John]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....67021.aspx

The comments to this article, about some nut who is being court martialed because he refuses to deploy to Afghanistan because he thinks Obama was born in Kenya, are a case study in cognative dissonence. The same people who thought that those who refused to fight in "Bush's illegal wars", now are the biggest law and order types imagineable.

[heller]

Good, he deserves it!

1st Read, what is this Think Crap, Think 24, Think Russian Mafia? Are yall that daum Stupid to Think you can try & program the posters on this site?

Granted some on here, yall could program, just pick Any RightWingTalibanBibleThumper & thiers your Target, oh yeah, they're ez to spot, they wear Lipton Teabag's On their clothes. Why is that BTW, can't you Teabaggers afford some Deoderant, so you save by Smelling like Tea, all the time.

I Think for Myself 1st Read ! Maybe yall should start Thinking for Yourselves & Report Actual News, instead of some Imaginary ANALysis! Good Lord!

Here's some News: President Obama & his Economic Policy's are continuing to bring America back, despite the MSM'z continued fascination with Al-Cracker'z latest fad(TeaParty Deoderant)!

Tax Revenues are up, Deficit going Down, Unemeployment gains(1st time in 3 years), Increased Spending by Actual Americans & yet, the MSM says Nothing, except Political anhilation for incumbents.

How about yall(1st Read & the other socalled MSM) Start Thinking.

Real Americans started Thinking back in 2006 & it continues to this Day, despite the MSM wanting to carry water for the RightWingTalibanBibleThumpers & thier Consitant No to everything.

Just WTF are the Republicans being Paid by the Taxpayer to do, because to date, I'm Thinking, "It's Sitting on thier A$$eS", Not doing a GD thing to help solve any of the Problems They Created.

That's your Reality TV, America!

...

[heller]

But my favorite:

Drum this rightwingnut out of the army...too bad he didn't have these concerns about the CIC when shrub was killing all of those soldiers and civilians in Iraq. You know Colonel, the war based on lies and more lies. No pension either, this is mutiny.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, because Obama isn't continuing both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars like "shrub."

[TotalState?]

The Obamer?

[Warren Buffet]

What's the problem? I pay a lower percentage of my income in taxes than my secretary!

[Jim Deason]

That actually makes sense when you think about it. Well done.

Lou
http://www.whos-watching.es.tc

[Xeones]

The same people who thought that those who refused to fight in "Bush's illegal wars", now are the biggest law and order types imagineable.

Are they the same people who accidentally a Coca Cola bottle?

[John]

Forgot the verb. The same people who thought those who refused to fight "Bush's illegal wars" were heros, now think this guy should be locked up for life. I also doubt they would pay much attention to the "Bush illegal war" objectors now that they are "Obama's illegal wars".

[P Brooks]

my family and I will gladly starve to death here on your streets.

Finally, you say something sensible.

A grateful nation offers its gratitude.

[Michael Ejercito]

What was wrong with Buck v. Bell ?

[Solanum Balko]

Since there are no morning links, I'll post this here.

Police misconduct in Prince George's County?? Say it ain't so!

A Prince George's County, Maryland, police officer has been suspended, and prosecutors are investigating an incident -- caught on video -- in which officers wielding nightsticks beat a University of Maryland student, officials said Tuesday.

[Slim Charles]

reason is getting pretty trippy.

Later today, I'm watching that on LSD.

This was even better than the "Worst Decade Ever" clip...

[notanundercovercop]

Why don't you give me your address so we can watch it together...

[Ben in DC]

Excellent. +1

[Lucy]

At least the "Worst Decade Ever" has the Jacket's epic facial expressions. This one was pretty much a straight downer.

[Mark E]

taxes were a whole lot less when OWHjr was around and we were arguably more civilized then.

[wylie]

Sooo.....clearly the answer is more taxes?

[Cosmotarian Overlord]

nope segragation was not more civilized...you are a racist...so yes more taxes are what we need...unless you are racist.

[heller]

D+

[Orphe D]

Enough is Enough!
Taxes on labor income and on consumption negatively affect household consumption and savings. Under a high tax burden, the firms also can't afford the costs of the factors of production (rent on capital and wages for labor). Taxation also reduces the incentive to produce more goods and services, since a large portion of your earnings is taken away by the State, so it's easy to understand why people are losing their jobs and the majority of Americans are suffering at the hand of their own elected officials: BIG Government!

New video exposes the IRS
View online at http://economicsforliberty.wordpress.com

[Tim]

"Midland County Sheriff"
They're using the tracked vehicle to search for a lost cow?

[alan]

Taxes are not the price we pay for civilization, they are the cost we endure for
continuing barbarism. You can always count a progressive to confuse price with cost.

[alan]

And on me to miss a preposition.

[wylie]

Only if the master fuse in your sarcasm detector is completely blown.

Too bad the sales tax on S-Meter Master Fuses is going up. They contain mercury or CO2, something else totally harmful to Gaia. We're just lucky they haven't been banned outright.

On the brightside, scientological E-meters use the same Master Fuse, so least they're gonna suffer too.

[wylie]

I'm still confused about what I'm getting for my money.

I still have to be ready to run when I'm carrying cash. But hey, if i do get mugged, at least i can call the police and have them question me about my involvement with my random mugger. "Were you trying to buy drugs off him?" WTF?

And then there's all the money spent on economic recovery. Sure glad that turned into a shitload of jobs.

Oh, how about ag. subsidies? Least i have access to all the cheap disgusting soda i would never want to drink.

I also FUCKING LOVE contributing money to the prohibition of a fucking plant. That's just icing on the muthafucking cake. A nice jizz flavored icing.

So lets see: thousands of my dollars for....nothing. Now THATS a cost/benefit ratio you can vote for!

[R C Dean]

My sarcasmometer generally pegs out as soon as I load any Hit & Run comment page. I figured that meant it was working.

[Sarcasmometer]

Peg me, big boy!

[Tea Drinker]

Just keep you damn socialist hands of my Medicare!

Damn Obama bails out the fat cat bankers and then they take my house and the bastards want the $500,000 I borrowed back! Where's my bailout?

Thank God we have our Army to protect us and keep the terrorists from overrunning my country.

Teaparty rules!

[Cayman Island Banker]

I strongly support raising taxes on the American rich to 90%+.

[R C Dean]

I'm scheduling a trip to Costa Rica to scope things out. No kidding.

[TruthOffering]

The biggest enabler of our government's out of control deficit spending is the Federal Reserve. If we end the Fed, we sever the ties that allow big government.

I came across this article about it; thought some people might enjoy reading it:

http://www.truthoffering.com/e.....nd-us.html

[The Wine Commonsewer (TWC)]

That was great. Absolutely loved it, especially seeing my old roommate with teh blond White House crashing bimbo again.

Yo! Man! It was Dope! [hear that in a Randy Jackson voice)

[Ed Royce]

That wasn't me.

[Vinny]

Not that this was bad, I just usually expect something awesome from REASON.

[Vinny]

Not that this was bad, I just usually expect something awesome from REASON.

[Bill Speers]

When Oliver Wendell Holmes made his comment about taxes begin the price we pay for civilization, government collected a tiny percentage of our income for taxes, and we provided most of our own civilization, with government taking on the role of protecting us as we developed our own ideas of civilization.

None of that is true now, and Holmes might well keep his mouth shut today on the taxes paying for civilization issue.

[Nitrim-Quest]

OK, enlighten me... how does this video/montage even RELATE to its title? Really, am I missing something?

[James Scott]

Decades ago, perhaps in the early 1980's, Mike Royko wrote a column detailing a particularly horrific crime against someone whose car broke down in the wrong Chicago neighborhood that asked, assuming Holmes was right, whether we are (were) getting our money's worth. Now it seems the assault on civilization is so vast that any number of daily horrors come to mind before any specific crime(s). The fact that few people reading this will know who Royko was is among the most disturbing of those horrors.

[Scarpe Nike]

is good

[UGG Boots Cheap]

good

[sd]

sd

[TotalState?]

Georgia Teacher Fired After Allegedly Posting 'CreepShots' Photo Of Student To Reddit (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....19732.html

Parents Want Teacher Fired After Bullying of Son Caught on Tape

The parents of a Washington middle school student who was recorded in what appears to be a bullying incident where he is seen being dragged around the room and has a sock stuffed in his mouth are outraged that the teacher, who they believe joined in, is still on the job.

The video taken by fellow students on their cell phones of Karla Kinney's 13-year-old son being dragged across the classroom is disturbing. But what really outrages Kinney and her husband is that a teacher was there too and they say he joined in. (VIDEO)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/paren.....L5l5-TAe8A