Today is December 16, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. A party in which a few folks decided they didn’t like being taxed without representation. What was the tax? An additional 10% levied on tea to cover British government revenue losses resulting from the 25% discount given to the East India Company to combat smuggling. Some brave colonists, fed up with the bullshit, got together and threw 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor; worth $1.7 million dollars in today’s dollars.

Today, we citizens have government representation on paper… but it sure doesn’t seem like it when you run the numbers. Here’s just some of the taxes we pay:

• Federal tax
• State tax
• Property tax
• Sales tax
• Gasoline tax
• Alcohol, tobacco, soda tax
• Medicare tax
• Social security tax
• Capital gains taxes
• Alternative Minimum tax
• Gift taxes
• Estate taxes
• Vehicle registration fees
• Drivers license fees
• Fishing/hunting license fees
• Fees to visit state federal parks
• Fees to visit “public” museums and monuments
• Toll and carpool fees
• School bonds and levies
• Levies for fire stations and EMS districts
• Hotel room taxes
• TV/Cable Satellite taxes
• Telephone taxes
• Water/Sewer district taxes
• Bike licenses
• Dog licenses
• Sport stadium levies
• Retirement 401k early withdrawal tax
• Airline transportation tax
• Building/Construction permit fee

There’s many, many more but I got tired of typing. Did you vote for most of these? I don’t remember doing so. Two hundred and fifty years ago, a bunch of patriots got pissed at the government screwing them over with a tea tax, and took action. Today we’re numb and willing to accept anything. The government is running a Tax Farm – and we’re the cattle.

The beauty of the enterprise is that the taxes and fees are mostly hidden. It’s deducted from your paycheck before you ever see it, or it’s worked into the price of goods. If the public was instead handed a bill at the end of the year for all the taxes and fees they owed, there would be an armed uprising and heads on pikes so fast politicians wouldn’t know what hit them. Social security and medicare are collected before you even get your paycheck for a reason. Meanwhile, you’re admonished for not “paying your fair share”.

Has the enterprise grown so large it can’t be defeated? Will patriots rise up and take back control of their republic, or will we continue to say “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

Don’t answer that, I already know the answer. Happy Boston Tea Party day!