There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” — Screenshot from YouTube (NEWS9 Live)
The taxation word game: Because the bottom 20% of earners pay negative income tax, it can always be claimed that any across-the-board income tax reduction benefits the rich more than the poor. Of course, the average working person, who represents the vast majority of the population, would be best served by having their own taxes reduced by 5% or 10%, regardless of whether wealthy individuals see a larger dollar savings from the same percentage cut.
Additionally, tax reduction bills often include cuts to free money and other government transfers given to the bottom 20%. So, any tax cut proposal from Republicans can be attacked by Democrats as allegedly hurting “the little guy.”
In fact, they’re not exactly lying when they say “a billionaire saved millions, while a poor person had their benefits cut.” But the argument is misleading, because the majority of Americans will end up saving thousands, which most people appreciate.
It appears that most of the proposed spending cuts in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” would primarily affect the non-working or underemployed bottom 20% of earners, rather than working- or middle-class Americans. For example, the bill imposes Medicaid work requirements on childless adults aged 19 to 64, a change expected to save tax money by reducing enrollment by up to 10 million people by 2034, according to congressional estimates.
Similarly, reforms to SNAP would shift some costs to states and tighten eligibility, mainly impacting those without stable employment. By contrast, working families stand to benefit from new tax relief provisions, such as the elimination of taxes on tips, car loan interest, and overtime pay, all of which reduce the tax burden on hourly and service workers.
The only proposed cut that might impact middle-class families is the reform to federal student aid, specifically, the tightening of federal loan borrowing limits and restrictions on certain Pell Grant uses. However, this reform could help curb rising tuition costs. Many economists argue that the cycle of expanding government grants and loans has fueled tuition inflation.
Meanwhile, the need for federal student loans is shrinking: as of 2025, 35 U.S. states offer tuition-free community college, and a growing number of public universities now provide free tuition to students from families earning under $100,000 annually.
For example, the University of Texas System waives tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduates from families earning up to $100,000. Princeton University provides full tuition for students below that same income threshold. These initiatives make college significantly more affordable for most working- and middle-class families without needing to rely on excessive federal borrowing.
The bottom 20% of income earners pay negative income tax, receiving more in benefits than they pay in. Through programs like refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC), the average federal tax rate for the lowest quintile is -11%. Significantly raising their taxes wouldn’t even bring their net tax contribution to zero.
By contrast, according to the latest IRS data, the top 5% of earners, those with incomes of $252,840 and above, paid over $1.4 trillion in income taxes in 2021, accounting for approximately 66% of total federal income tax revenue. All the liberals demanding that we “tax billionaires” or insisting that billionaires should “pay their fair share” are a bit late, because billionaires are already supporting the bulk of government spending.
Given this distribution, the notion that the Trump administration is stealing from the poor to make the rich richer is illogical.
Democrats keep claiming that the new tax plan is a “tax hike on the poor,” but it does not increase tax rates for low-income Americans. Rather, it disqualifies some individuals from certain benefits and requires a larger percentage of them to return to work. Ultimately, this will result in greater tax savings for working people.
This also fits well with the deportation of illegal aliens, which will begin freeing up jobs at the lower end of the labor market. An added bonus is that, as illegal workers are removed from the labor pool, wages for those jobs will rise, possibly enough to make them appealing even to people who were previously collecting government benefits.
Another aspect of Trump’s tax plan and business policy that Democrats frame as “welfare for billionaires” is the reduction of taxes and regulations on businesses. The idea is to lower costs for businesses to encourage expansion and job creation. Right now, with tariffs in place, companies are already incentivized to relocate to the U.S. Reducing regulations and taxes would provide an additional incentive to accelerate that shift.
House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee—led by Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO)—have released the text of a monumental new tax reform package titled “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
The bill, strongly backed by President Donald Trump, is aimed at delivering historic cuts to American families, workers, and small businesses.
The 389-page bill includes a long list of pro-growth, America-First provisions that echo many of the successful features of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts—this time with added firepower.
Major Tax Cuts and Extensions
Extension of Individual Tax Rate Cuts:
Makes the Trump-era tax rate reductions permanent, eliminating the 2025 expiration.
Increased Standard Deduction:
Extends the increased standard deduction and adds a temporary $1,500 boost for individuals and $1,000 for heads of household (2025–2028).
Enhanced Child Tax Credit:
Boosts the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,500 per child through 2028.
Requires Social Security numbers for eligibility (to exclude undocumented individuals).
No Tax on Tips:
Creates a full income tax deduction for tips earned in traditionally tipped industries (waitstaff, hairdressers, etc.) through 2028.
No Tax on Overtime Pay:
Allows workers to deduct qualified overtime compensation from their taxable income (excluding high earners), also through 2028.
Bonus Deduction for Seniors:
Adds a $4,000 “bonus” standard deduction for seniors with moderate incomes ($75K single / $150K joint cap), available 2025–2028.
Boosted Small Business Tax Break:
Increases the Section 199A deduction from 20% to 23% for pass-through business income.
Makes the deduction permanent beyond 2025.
Expanded Estate & Gift Tax Exemption:
Triples the exemption from $5 million to $15 million, indexed for inflation.
Ends Deduction for Personal Exemptions:
Continues to eliminate personal exemptions post-2025.
Limits on Itemized Deductions:
Caps itemized deduction benefit at a 37% tax rate threshold.
Permanently disallows certain miscellaneous itemized deductions.
Casualty Loss & Mortgage Interest Limits:
Extends Trump-era limitations on these deductions.
ABLE Account Enhancements:
Continues increased contributions and allows 529 rollovers into ABLE accounts.
Saver’s credit applies to ABLE contributions.
ABLE Accounts:
Extends increased contribution limits and savers’ credit eligibility.
Allows continued rollovers from 529 college plans to ABLE accounts.
Student Loan Relief:
Makes loan discharges for death or permanent disability tax-free beyond 2025.
Military Hazard Pay:
Expands exclusion for military serving in Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
Limitations and Eliminations Maintained:
Continues limitations on mortgage interest and casualty loss deductions.
Continues suspension of the deduction for personal exemptions and miscellaneous itemized deductions.
The entire system has been designed to generate as much revenue from your activity as possible until someday you eventually drop dead. It is tax season, and that means that it is time to feed the largest and most bloated government in the history of the entire planet once again. Of course the federal income tax is just one of the ways that they are systematically draining your wealth. As you will see below, there are literally dozens of taxes that Americans must pay each year. Many of our politicians seem to revel in inventing ways to extract money out of us, and that needs to stop.
Most Americans are working extremely hard, and yet money seems to keep going out the other end faster than it is coming in.
The truth is that the entire system has been designed to take what you have away from you.
There are many ways that this is accomplished – taxation, inflation, debt, interest, fines, fees, tickets, government seizures and good old-fashioned corporate greed.
If you decided to just sit back and do nothing but hold on to the wealth that you already have, you would find out that it would disappear quite rapidly.
It is not an accident that most Americans are experiencing a declining standard of living. The system is rigged, and the rigging has not been in our favor.
The following are 55 ways that everything that you think that you own is being systematically taken away from you…
#1 Do you think that you own your home? You might want to think again. Most Americans that “own a home” are paying a mortgage. If you stop paying that mortgage you will lose that home. The number of foreclosures in the United States last year was up 174 percent from 2021, and mortgage delinquencies have been rising in recent months.
When homeowners get booted out of their homes, they don’t get their down payments back.
They also don’t get all of the mortgage payments that they have made back.
The banks get to keep the money and the homes.
Perhaps you have paid off your mortgage. Does that mean that you now “own your home”?
No, not really. Just refuse to pay your property taxes and see what happens. At best, you can say that you have the right to rent your home from the government.
In any event, the reality is that the banks now own more of “our homes” than we do.
Just check out your most recent mortgage statement and see how much “home equity” you actually have.
If you recently purchased your home, it probably isn’t much at all.
Things used to be far different in this country. Once upon a time, ordinary Americans owned most of the homes and most of the land in this nation.
But now the banks own most of it. Sadly, most American families that believe that they “own homes” are actually enslaved to 20 or 30 year debt contracts.
And if something happens and you are unable to keep making payments, you could lose everything.
#2 Do you think that you own your vehicle? You don’t own it if you are still making payments on it. Of course if you stop making payments you will rapidly lose that vehicle.
But even if it is paid off, you can only operate that vehicle if you do the following…
*You must pay the license fee.
*You must pay the car registration fee.
*You must pay the emissions inspection fee.
*You must pay the property taxes on that vehicle if that applies in your area.
*You must pay the tire taxes.
*You must pay the gas taxes.
If you have paid all of those taxes, then you are permitted to drive only where the government allows you to drive and only under the rules that the government sets for you.
But at least you “own” your vehicle, right?
#3 What about your possessions? Do you own them?
Well, yes, you probably own some possessions.
But that doesn’t mean that they are not enslaving you.
After all, did you use a credit card to pay for any of them?
If so, you could end up paying far more for your possessions than you originally thought that they cost.
#4 Do you own your education? Well, it is undeniable that nobody can ever take it away from you. But if you took out student loans to get your education, that debt may end up enslaving you for decades.
The borrower is the servant of the lender and student loan debt is more of a financial drain on Americans than ever before. Americans now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards.
Today, Americans owe more than 1.7 trillion dollars on their student loans, which is a new all-time record.
#5 Will you protect your wealth if you put your money in the bank?
No, in fact your wealth will be systematically destroyed in the bank.
Inflation is a hidden tax on every single dollar that you own, because it destroys the value of all dollars in existence.
There are some Americans that have been saving money for decades, but those savings are being taxed into oblivion by inflation.
Just compare the price of a carton of 12 eggs five years ago to the price of a carton of eggs today.
When the cost of living goes up, the value of the money that we have put in the bank goes down.
#6 Insurance costs continue to soar. After insuring virtually everything in our lives, many of us barely have any money left over to actually live our lives with.
#7 State and local governments all over the nation have turned to ticket writing as a primary revenue source. They know that most people do not carefully follow the speed limit, and so they have turned that behavior into a revenue-generating tool.
#8 Some states have decided to simply confiscate wealth even if nothing has been done wrong. For example, some states are now aggressively seizing “unclaimed” safe deposit boxes. If you have a safe deposit box that you have not checked on in a while, you might want to make sure that it is still there.
#9 You might end up losing your valuables when you cross the border. U.S. border agents regularly seize laptops and other electronic devices as people cross the border. In many cases those items are never returned.
#10 If you don’t pay your property taxes, you will lose your home and it will likely be a big Wall Street bank that will end up owning it. The big Wall Street banks have been buying up thousands of tax liens and are making a killing by socking distressed homeowners with predatory interest, outrageous penalties and almost unbelievable legal fees.
#11 Of course the federal income tax is one of the biggest ways that our wealth is being drained. One of the primary reasons why the Federal Reserve and the IRS were established back in 1913 was to redistribute wealth. Wealth is transferred from hard working Americans to the U.S. government, and then it is redistributed to those that aren’t working or spent on some of the most wasteful programs imaginable.
Needless to say, federal taxes are just one of the taxes that we pay. The truth is that the average American pays dozens of different taxes each year. The following are just a few examples of the insidious forms of taxation that drain our wealth…
#12 Building Permit Tax
#13 Capital Gains Tax
#14 CDL License Tax
#15 Cigarette Tax
#16 Corporate Income Tax
#17 Court Fines (an indirect tax)
#18 Dog License Tax
#19 Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
#20 Fishing License Tax
#21 Food License Tax
#22 Fuel Permit Tax
#23 Gasoline Tax
#24 Gift Tax
#25 Hunting License Tax
#26 Inheritance Tax
#27 IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
#28 Liquor Tax
#29 Local Income Tax
#30 Luxury Taxes
#31 Marriage License Tax
#32 Medicare Tax
#33 Payroll Taxes
#34 Phone Taxes
#35 Property Taxes
#36 Real Estate Tax
#37 Recreational Vehicle Tax
#38 Road Toll Booth Taxes
#39 Road Usage Taxes (Truckers)
#40 Sales Taxes
#41 School Tax
#42 Septic Permit Tax
#43 Social Security Tax
#44 State Income Tax
#45 State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
#46 Toll Bridge Taxes
#47 Toll Tunnel Taxes
#48 Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
#49 Trailer Registration Tax
#50 Utility Taxes
#51 Vehicle License Registration Tax
#52 Vehicle Sales Tax
#53 Watercraft Registration Tax
#54 Well Permit Tax
#55 Workers Compensation Tax
When you take all forms of taxation into account, there are some people that hand over more than 50 percent of their incomes to various levels of government each year.
Even the future is being taken away from us. The future is literally being stolen from our children and our grandchildren. They will be inheriting the 36 trillion dollar national debt that we have accumulated.
What we have done to future generations is unthinkable, and yet we continue to borrow colossal mountains of money.
When you base an entire economy on debt, eventually you end up with money problems that never seem to end. As a nation, we are now enslaved to a vicious spiral of debt that threatens to destroy everything that our forefathers worked so hard to build.
As the debt loads of our federal, state and local governments become even more burdensome, they are going to want even more money from us. For decades we gave in to new tax after new tax thinking that it would finally satisfy them.
But it never seems to be enough. They always want more.
Unfortunately, most Americans are so caught up in the “rat race” that they never take much time to think about who designed the race or why they are running it.
It is time to wake up.
We are being systematically abused by the control freaks that are running things, and it is time to say that enough is enough.
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the poll-tax to Caesar or not?’ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’ Matthew 22:15–21, NIV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1, NRSV
So let our lips and lives express The holy gospel we profess So let our works and virtues shine, To prove the doctrine all divine. Isaac Watts, 1674–1748
Manser, M., ed. (2015). Daily Guidance (p. 29). Martin Manser.
Signs that we were once a truly great nation are all around us. Previous generations of Americans handed us the keys to the most magnificent domestic infrastructure that the world had ever seen, but now it is literally falling apart all around us. Thousands of bridges are structurally deficient and there have already been some very high profile collapses. Hundreds of thousands of miles of highways and roads in the United States are in very poor shape. Aging sewer systems are leaking raw sewage all over the place, and children are being slowly poisoned by lead pipes that desperately need to be replaced. The power grid is hopelessly overloaded and is extremely vulnerable. Meanwhile, our ports, our dams, our subway systems, our bus terminals and our airports are crumbling right in front of our eyes. The truth is that our nation’s infrastructure says a lot about who we are. So what does America’s crumbling infrastructure say about us? Sadly, it says that we are a rusting, crumbling, decaying leftover from a better, more prosperous time.
When Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration told us that “investment in U.S. infrastructure as a share of GDP has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s”…
Public investment in U.S. infrastructure as a share of GDP has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The World Economic Forum now ranks the United States 13th when it comes to the overall quality of infrastructure.
So Congress passed a bill that gave the Biden administration more than $100,000,000,000 to spend on fixing our infrastructure.
Honestly, I have no idea what they did with all that money.
More than 45,000 U.S. bridges and 1 in 5 miles of roads are in poor condition, per the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2007, the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 and injuring 121.
Well, fast forward a few years later and the Department of Transportation is still telling us that “over 40,000 bridges” are in poor condition…
The Department of Transportation considers 6.8% of the over 600,000 bridges it tracks and rates to be in “poor” condition. That doesn’t sound too bad on a percentage basis, but it’s over 40,000 bridges in total.
And it appears that the condition of our roads has actually gotten worse in many states.
For example, Consumer Reports says that almost half of all urban roads in the state of California are not currently in acceptable condition…
Despite an enormous yearly disbursement for highways that tops $21 billion, the Golden State manages to keep just a little more than half their urban roads in acceptable condition. However, this is an outsized job since, in addition to 840 miles of coastline, California boasts more miles of urban roads than any other state and has the second-highest mileage of rural roads in the country.
Data from the National Highway Administration shows California’s roads are the most traveled in the U.S., so it makes sense that the state also has the second-highest number of motor vehicle-related fatalities in the country.
Back in 2021, the Biden administration also made a big deal out of the fact that millions of Americans were getting their tap water through lead pipes…
Millions still get water from lead pipes, despite the fact that exposure to lead has irreversible health effects; in 2015, a state of emergency was declared in Flint, Michigan as citizens learned that their water supply contained toxic levels of lead.
So why didn’t the Biden administration fix this problem?
An article that was published late last year revealed that the EPA is estimating that “more than 9 million service lines” are still made out of lead…
The EPA estimates that more than 9 million service lines are made of lead, a neurotoxin that can cause nervous system damage, learning disabilities and other health problems, especially in children. If lead pipes corrode, as in the infamous case of Flint, Michigan, they can poison drinking water.
While no amount of lead exposure is safe, the federal rule now requires utilities to notify the public and improve corrosion treatment if lead in their water exceeds 10 parts per billion. Some homes in Syracuse, New York, recently tested at 70 parts per billion.
Our politicians are constantly telling us that they just don’t have enough money to get everything done.
Personally, I would really love to see exactly what the Biden administration spent more than 100 billion dollars of infrastructure money on.
Have you traveled through any of our airports lately?
Compared to other industrialized nations, they are a complete and utter joke.
Why can’t we have beautiful airports, modern subway systems, functional roads and bridges, and safe water coming out of our taps?
More tax revenue is collected in America than anywhere else in the world, and so we certainly deserve the best infrastructure.
When I bring up the topic of taxes, most people immediately think of the federal income tax. But the truth is that there are literally dozens of different taxes that they use to extract wealth out of us…
Building Permit Tax
Capital Gains Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Court Fines (indirect taxes)
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Gift Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Local Income Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Payroll Taxes
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Road Toll Booth Taxes
Road Usage Taxes (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
School Tax
Septic Permit Tax
Service Charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Toll Bridge Taxes
Toll Tunnel Taxes
Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
Trailer Registration Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
When you take all forms of taxation into account, some Americans actually end up handing over more than 50 percent of their incomes each year.
So our politicians have no excuse for not fixing our infrastructure.
But even though they extract money from us in dozens of different ways, our infrastructure crisis just seems to keep getting worse.
In some areas of the country, roads that were once paved have actually been transformed into gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain.
Our crumbling infrastructure is a perfect metaphor for our crumbling society as a whole, and it is time for the American people to start demanding better from all levels of government.
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