Wise and witty thoughts are the only things that bring me any solace during tax-filing season — thoughts, such as these:
“The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30% of their ice cream.” (Bill Murray)
“What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.” (Mark Twain)
“It’s fitting that April 14 is National Pecan Day, because it is the day we recognize nuts, and April 15 is the day we pay our taxes to support them.” (Craig Ferguson)
Billy, that’s a great idea. Mark, let’s not forget that the tax collector also skins our wallets. And, Craig, you explain well why our tax system is nutty.
Our country’s founders had plenty to say about taxes:
“What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue.” (Thomas Paine)
“I cannot lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” (James Madison)
“It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income.” (Ben Franklin)
Hey, Tom, Jim and Ben, you’d be shocked at the level of plunder, “benevolence” and taxation that’s going on. The only Americans who enjoy an income tax around 10 percent these days are those who moved to Russia.
The great leaders of the 20th century — the century that brought us the 16th Amendment and the income tax — have different takes on taxation:
“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” (Winston Churchill)
Copyright 2024 Tom Purcell, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.