ON THE LAW ENFORCEMENT TAX INCREASE

I just read in the Howell County News that a law enforcement tax increase is on the ballot.  Everybody knows that something needs to be done, the thieves are stealing us blind and buying drugs with their ill-gotten gains but we should stop and consider for a moment.  I personally believe that the much touted plan to rehabilitate criminals has failed; we need to return to a system that punishes criminals and causes them to dread going to prison.

This tax increase and most others is a percentage, this means that as the price of the things we buy goes up the tax goes up also.  Now they tell us that inflation is running at 7% but I don’t believe it. Now, we know that fuel is up nearly 100%.  Price checking a 2021 catalog against a 2022 catalog that I had handy indicates increases between 18% and 30% but my point is that the government is getting a hefty raise already but they are still not satisfied. They want more money to finance themselves, but they fail to appreciate that working peoples wages don’t go up every time the price of gas increases while leaving them less to live on and pay their personal and family expenses.  

Crime is up, no doubt about it.  My wife recently suffered a brain aneurysm, and while she was in the hospital we got robbed three times.  I had an eye witness who saw the thieves and their vehicle, and when I described this to the deputy he said, “Oh, I know who that is” and showed me a picture of the vehicle on his laptop that my witness was able to confirm.  I thought I was going to get an arrest this time, but no luck.  I and my family have gotten robbed over and over and nothing ever happens.  I am not at all sure that more money will correct this problem.  I believe a different solution is required.

Considering the times we are living, in I don’t believe the government should be asking for a bigger bite of our income right now.  Working people are having a really hard time getting by and wondering if they will be able to afford the gas to go to work or put food on the table.  I don’t believe for a minute that once we get the tax, it will ever be taken off.

We should never forget that all of the governments “free” money is not really free. Every penny of this so-called “free” money will be converted to goods and services and all goods and services are provided by ordinary working people who go to work every day to provide for the rest of us.  The American worker will pay this tax but he/she will lose control of how the money is spent. As a retired person, I realize that you “the wage earner” are supporting me too.  Tax increases always take money away from the person who earned it and gives it to the government to decide how it should be spent on our behalf.   I believe I can make better decisions about how my money should be spent.  If this trend of giving the government more and more of our wealth continues, in time the government will have it all and we will be no better off than the Russians or Ukrainians.  Look at the pictures we have been seeing of Ukraine and you will realize you don’t see any houses. That is because everybody is living in apartments in those big square buildings.  Do you want to live like that? Do you think you will really be happy when you have nothing?  I have visited both Russia and Ukraine and observed this for myself.

 

Hershel Hollingshad

1120 State Route CC

West Plains Mo 65775