On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by southern fanatic John Wilkes Booth, while attending a play at the Ford Theater in Washington, DC.
For those of us who pay attention, April 15th is also the day we pay our fair share of the commons (taxes).
Somewhere, there is an irony.
Americans do pay their taxes except the uber wealthy who pay very little or no taxes. When they do, it's at a much lower rate than the majority of taxpayers. In fact, they pay approximately 16% to our 28% plus. Why? you might ask... Well, because of their stupendous wealth, they can lobby Congress where the rest of us don't have the same capability. Case in point: the McCourt divorce proceedings currently underway in the Los Angeles court system. Frank and Jamie McCourt purchased the Dodger franchise from Rupert Murdoch (former Australian, insanely wealthy vendor of FOX garbage television). The McCourts have paid next to nothing in taxes for quite awhile (which has been well-documented in the proceedings). Nor has the uber wealthy Mr. Murdoch paid his fair share into our tax system.
Do the wealthy use the same "commons" as the rest of America?
You betcha!...
But because of the skewed system now in place, they're allowed to skate within and around the system (laughing all the way to the bank). Meanwhile, the rest of us are left holding the bag.
Perhaps if "teabaggers" demonstrating against the current administration fully grasped who the real villians were... the "taxation without representation" demonstrations would cease or change direction... toward the Wall Street thieves and those among us who have no problem scamming the system, but refuse to pay for the privilege of living in America.
As we ponder the direction of our country, I believe we should also pause to reflect on the achievements of the Lincoln legacy, which ended so abruptly on April 15th.
illustration originally published by Harper's Weekly May 6, 1865
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