Monday, August 3, 2020, 10:10 am | Randy Thomasson
“Can’t you cut the waste instead?”
They’ve already hurt you, and intend to hurt you more.
You already know California state government has made you poorer. But did you know that the California Legislature has been virtually controlled by Democrats for the last 60 years? And that Democrats control three-quarters of both the State Assembly and State Senate?
This year, your Democrat-controlled state government is destroying small businesses and family livelihoods with their extremely harmful lockdown. And now, they’re coming in for the kill with AB 1253 to directly raise income taxes without a vote of the people.
As a native Californian, I can’t remember anything like this. But the over-confident, thieving Democrat politicians are drunk with power. That’s why they’re daring to massively raise taxes by government fiat, not letting the voters decide, and doing this damage the same year that state government has financially injured Californians, and in an election year too.
AB 1253 would massively raise taxes on the rich, as if California taxes punishing success weren’t already too high. As California Political Reviewexplains:
AB 1253 would add Revenue and Taxation Code Section 17044 to create three new tax rates for amounts of income above specified thresholds. As a tax levy, it would take effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature and chaptering by the Secretary of State. The bill would apply retroactively to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020. As a tax increase measure, it would require a 2/3 vote of both houses of the Legislature pursuant to Article XIIIA, Section 3 of the California Constitution.
Specifically, AB 1253 would add a new section to the Revenue and Taxation Code to provide the following three higher tax rates (in addition to the existing ones):
A 1% tax on income above $1 million, but not over $2 million A 3% tax on income over $2 million, but not over $5 million A 3.5% tax on income over $5 million
This would make the state with the highest income taxes even more infamous about taking money from the responsible to give to the irresponsible.
Under AB 1253, the most successful earners would see their state income tax rate jump from 13.3% to 16.8%. Making things worse, this tax would be retroactive to January 2020!
Now before you breathe a sigh of relief and think, “I’m glad my taxes won’t go up — this is only a tax on the rich,” think again. Because the power to tax is the power to destroy. Taxing one group always has intended consequences, hurting other people too.
Here are four ways AB 1253’s huge new tax on the rich would hurt everybody:
Million-dollar earners will move out of state. We’ve seen this before and we’ll see it again. The wealthy already have the highest mobility in society with the greatest number of options of where to live. Expect to see an exodus of wealthy Californians, even if only to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. That means the ruling Democrats will be more likely to raise taxes on lower earners instead. Because water always finds its way to the lowest level, doesn’t it?
In turn, you’ll experience inflation. Million-dollar earners that stay in California are smart enough not to lose money. So, because most of them own businesses, they’ll look for more ways to get more money from their customers. This means higher prices for us all. Ready to suffer more?
It’ll be easier for the ruling Democrats to directly raise taxes on you later. By accepting a huge tax hike on one “class” of Californians, then by reelecting the tax-hikers, we’re telling them we accept regular tax increases as “normal.” This will throw gasoline on the fire for more sales tax hikes, car tax hikes, and income tax hikes creeping into more tax brackets. Remember, to be a good Democrat politician today, you have to think other people’s money is yours. AB 1253 is training them to do that ever so much more so to you and your family.
AB 1253’s huge tax hike hides all the wasteful spending. Not once will the ruling Democrats say publicly there’s any waste to slash. They won’t admit there’s a mountain of waste, fraud, and abuse throughout California state government. Making it easy for them to deceive and hide waste is 60+ years of Democrats controlling the State Legislature, and no independent, out-of-state, Texas-style audit. And this year, in the midst of the destructive lockdown of Gavin Newsom and the Democrats, government workers continue to be paid, and government pensions continue to rise. AB 1253 is the equivalent of a bad employee — who’s been hurting your customers, wasting your resources, and not caring to do his job — coming to you and demanding a raise. Don’t give the ruling Democrats a raise — fire them!
TAKE ACTION NOW: Please contact your own state assemblymember and state senator, as well as Governor Gavin Newsom. Tell them, “Oppose AB 1253. No new taxes!” Enter your voter registration address here to reveal the websites of your state assemblymember and state senator. Click their links to see the telephone numbers and web contact forms for each. To contact Governor Newsom, click here.
Watch this June 5, 2020 interview: “It’s a dangerous experiment involving a litmus test on public safety,” said criminal justice expert Dr. Darrin Porcher. Retired NYPD Lieutenant Joe Cardinale added, “It’s going to be like something out a Batman movie. You’re going to see chaotic scenes in the street. And I hate to paint a that picture, but that’s exactly what they’re heading for.”
Have you noticed how Democrat politicians and some large corporations, church pastors, celebrities, and people on social media are supporting “Black Lives Matter”?
But do they know that “Defund the Police” is the #1 published and shouted demand of “Black Lives Matter”? So if you support them, you are supporting having zero police anywhere, which is the most dangerous, pro-murderer idea you’ve probably ever heard.
What’s more, as an organization, Black Lives Matter is demanding BILLIONS of dollars from Americans who’ve never owned slaves, in the form of “reparations” to black Americans who’ve never been slaves. Black Lives Matter also supports permitting illegal aliens to vote.
Are these your values? If not, don’t support Black Lives Matter. Because, in contrast to this racist, violence-prone movement, the God of the Bible says all human beings matter, everyone has intrinsic worth, and harming innocent people or people’s property is a sin.
Is there an “epidemic” of police killing unarmed blacks? Are innocent blacks being “hunted” by cops?
That’s the claim of “Black Lives Matter.” But what are the facts?
On June 3, Fox News host Tucker Carlson powerfully laid out the indisputable data showing that, in 2019 in the United States, police killed 10 unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites.
Let’s do the math. There were 1,004 people killed by police in the U.S. in 2019. Of these, 802 killings by police noted the race of the police officer and of the person shot dead. Of these 802 killings of suspects, 371 were white and 236 were black, and the vast majority of those shot dead were armed themselves. Black suspects were more likely to have deadly weapon than white suspects, yet more white suspects were killed.
Here’s detail of the 10 total cases in 2019 where unarmed blacks were shot and killed by police:
attacked, choked, and used a taser gun on a cop
physically fought with trooper in woods
physically attacked female police officer
backed car into officer, catching him in door
drove car high-speed at officer
physically attacked police officer
a black woman at home was holding a gun. The officer who shot her has been charged with murder
physically fighting with black cop
claimed to have gun and threatened to kill cops
after killing a suspect, a gun was found in the dead man’s vehicle. The officer has been charged with aggravated manslaughter
This means, of the 10 unarmed black Americans killed by police in 2019, half of their deaths were provoked by the suspect physically attacking the officer just before the shooting occurred. One shooting was allegedly an accident. In the remaining four cases, in two of them the officer was criminally charged.
This is an extremely small number in a nation of 325 million. This is not genocide or anything close to it. The number of police killings of unarmed suspects is actually dropping. In 2015, unarmed suspects killed by police in the U.S. was 38 blacks and 32 whites. Overall totals have since dropped, and have fallen most dramatically for black men.
2019 was the safest year for all unarmed suspects. However, there were 48 cops murdered in 2019 according to FBI data, which is more than any unarmed suspects of all races that were killed by police. In 2018, there were 7,407 blacks murdered nationwide. For every unarmed black person shot in the U.S. by police, more than 700 blacks were shot to death by someone else, usually by someone they knew. No, blacks are not being “hunted down” and killed by racist police.
To put things in perspective, FBI statistics revealed, “In 2015, a police officer was 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male was to be killed by a police officer. Black males have made up 42 percent of all cop-killers over the last decade, though they are only 6 percent of the population.”
Also noting the drop in police shootings of unarmed suspects was the Washington Post, which, on May 7, 2018, reported, “The number of deadly police shootings of unarmed people has generally declined since 2015…”
Stop and think about it. When someone pulls a gun or a knife on a cop or physically attacks, the police officer has the right of self-defense. What do you say about a cop being 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black being killed by a cop? Perhaps it’s time for police to march and protest that “Blue Lives Matter.”
Worst of all, the “Black Lives Matter” protests and riots in late May and early June have resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen people, and the serious injuries of many others, including cops and small business owners. Why would any reasonable person support a group that causes innocent people to perish?
“What’s gone wrong with black America? Why are they so dependent on white America, on the government, that all they can think of themselves as victims? Which then, of course, deflates them as human beings, undermines their best energies, their best intentions. So after 50-60 years now past the Civil Rights bill, we’re worse off in many socio-economic categories than we were 60 years ago … Our families have fallen to pieces. Seventy-five percent of all black children are born out of wedlock, without a father. I don’t care how many social programs you have. You’re not going to overcome that … we as black Americans have to begin to take our fate back into our own hands, and stop crying racism.” Shelby Steele, senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Fox News interview, June 5, 2020
An antifa militant runs past a burning police car in Los Angeles, May 30, 2020
If you’re concerned about the looting, burning, and alarming mayhem in the United States of America, you need to learn about Antifa.
America’s new domestic terrorists “Antifa” is short for anti-fascist — fascism being one-man rule, such as by World War 2 era dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Since the USA does not have a fascist form of government, antifa adherents have blurred vision from the start. Yet because they’re Marxist revolutionaries — against constitutional authority, against property-rights capitalism, and justify violence as a means to an end — it’s the antifa “troops” who are breaking windows, hurling incendiary devices, throwing rocks, and doing great harm.
President Donald Trump is correct that antifa are terrorists. Dressed in black and predominately Caucasian, antifa have “cells” all over the U.S. Taking advantage of the videoed police abuse of George Floyd in Minneapolis, antifa sprang into action on the heels of their Black Lives Matter counterparts. The violence that’s erupted is being led and primarily caused by antifa. What you are seeing is antifa’s militant Marxist platform, using brute force to attempt to simultaneously destroy government and businesses.
The sudden violence, which has included the complete destruction of a police station, and widespread looting, burning, and mayhem, has even caught liberal Democrats by surprise. As left-wing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti exclaimed, “This is no longer a protest. This is destruction.” Because although today’s Democrat politicians and antifa share similar beliefs (they’re both godless, socialist, irresponsible, thieves, reverse racists, and historical revisionists redefining justice), Democrat politicians try to protect their government positions, which they adore, while anarchistic antifa attack all government, period.
Exacerbated by bad government and cheap-grace churches As FNC’s Tucker Carlson pointed out, we elect representatives to protect us from harm, and elected officials that fail to quickly quell violent riots have failed us. This is why politically-incorrect foreign governments are laughing at us right now. Because the first three days of violence last week went unabated as liberal leaders coddled antifa and their Black Lives Matter cohorts, apparently regarding tear gas, rubber bullets, police batons, and deploying the national guard as too much. Yes, now arrests are happening, but will everyone whose property was destroyed be reimbursed by their negligent, mostly Democrat-run cities?
And not only did bad government contribute to the destruction you’re seeing, bad government influenced and invited antifa in the first place. Consider this: Why is antifa largely atheistic? Thirteen years of “God is dead” evolution indoctrination in the government-controlled schools. Why is antifa blaming outwardly instead of being humbly introspective? Bad government’s decades of rewarding irresponsibility, and not supporting Christian values, or life-long marriage, or even appropriate discipline of children. Why is antifa violent? Because gratuitous violence is celebrating in the media (liberal government no longer effectively prohibits “harmful matter”), and so many criminals are not being prosecuted, punished, or even serving out their full sentences.
Ultimately, the Church shares responsibility for the rise of antifa. For if righteous voting were a priority, we would have good, not bad, government. If religious liberty were valued, congregants would be taught the Christian precepts of our U.S. founding fathers. If the fear of God, specific sins, and hell were revealed like the Bible teaches, people would think twice before committing obvious sins. If Biblical justice for individuals based on personal merit were taught, a true view of evidence, fairness, and individual responsibility would thrive.
What’s more, if the Church taught holy discipleship, selfishness would be replaced by love for neighbor. If identity in Christ were taught, there would fewer racists and even fewer who falsely accuse others of racism. If family values were emphasized with accountability, personal responsibility and love for others would become a habit. And if sacrificial love and shepherding of children were taught like the Bible teaches, there would be a lot less youngsters in the atheism-teaching, irresponsibility-promoting, immorality-producing government schools.
Where did antifa comes from? They were bred close to home. The sooner we come to grips with this, the sooner we’ll embrace the Truth that can set us free.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… 2 Timothy 3:1-4
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