Property Taxes and the end of the American dream

I promised myself that the first post on this blog would be something that was nearer and dearer to my heart than anything. I didn't want to get blog-happy and spout off about anything and everything that entered my passionate soul. So, with that said, my first blog is going to be about PROPERTY TAXES, the number one blight upon the American People.

To sum up my argument, before this turns into a book, my thought is that human beings have been fighting and dieing for the right to own their own property for thousands of years, literally since the beginning of time. Hundreds of thousands of rightous people, literally gave their lives so that hard-working people could own their own property. In the middle-ages, they were call 'land-owners'. In 19th century America, they were called 'property owners', and yes, in the time of American Slavery, even free Blacks who owned their own property were considered free and equal citizens. Go ahead, tell me I'm crazy. I'm from Chicago, the city FOUNDED by a free, land-owning Black man, 50 years before the end of slavery. There was just something sacred about a man who left his blood, sweat and tears in the soil just so he could have 'a place of his own'. It's the same dream all human beings across the Earth have dreamed of.

And yet, here we are in 21st century America, and aside from Freedom, the number one right that mankind has fought and died for over a thousand years, once won, has now been quietly GIVEN away, probably never to be held again...the right to own property. They call it "Property Taxes".

What the hell are "property taxes"? The way I see it, and correct me if I'm wrong, the government owns your house, land or property, not you. What they call a "tax", is obviously not a "tax", it's "rent". Look it up in the dictionary. What happens if you don't pay your property taxes? The same thing that happens if you don't pay your rent, you get evicted.

When I was a Colonel in the Indiana Citizens Volunteer Militia, yes it was over 15 years ago in a past life of mine, I was the County Commander of the Starke County Militia, one of the hardest-hit counties in America right now. The year was 1993 and kicking senior citizens out of their homes for back property taxes was something new. For some reason, the local media picked up on a story of a frail little old man, probably 90 years old, who's great, great, grandfather had built their home in the midst of the civil war in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Now, over a hundred years later, this founding father was being dragged out of his home, with the barrel of a gun stuck in his mouth, and 15 big, tough County Sheriff's Deputies manhandling him and twisting his arms behind his back, all because he didn't care what some "UnAmerican property tax law" said, he wasn't leaving.

Fortunately, it didn't get that far. Why? Within 24 hours of the local South Bend media publicizing his dramatic circumstance, complete with interviews with law enforcement officials claiming, "we don't care what he thinks, the law's the law", myself along with two other rightous Militiamen, made two phone calls. One was to a local reporter I thought we could trust to tell it like it is, and the other was to the Militia's second in command. The gist of the midnight scramble was this - The Indiana Citizens Volunteer Militia has decided to make this little old man's fight OUR FIGHT, and as the name "Militia" suggests, we were going to fight with our guns. The soap box and ballot box and done nothing to protect innocent elderly Americans like this. It was time for the cartridge box. During the nighttime hours, we would secure a perimeter around the old man's property with heavily-armed militia men. I had personally spoken with the little ole man himself and he assured me, he was pretty sure he was going to be murdered in the morning. If we wanted to make the stand with him, he was happy to have us.

In hindsight, if we'd given them more than 12 hours notice, Lon Horiuchi and the FBI's "Hostage Rescue Team", the same man that killed Sam and Vicky Weaver in Ruby Ridge, and ALSO all the little kids at Waco, would have surely been dispatched to kill not only myself, but the old man and anyone else they deemed as "insightful".

No, we caught them by surprise. With less than 12 hours before armed confrontation, the County Sheriff postponed his "forced eviction" and the media was left shaking their heads. They couldn't wait for someone to get killed, 'what a headline'. Yeah, we used the media. It was somewhat of a bluff. I was willing to die to make the stand for the old man and so was he. But I wasn't completely sure if the rest of our freedom-fighters were willing to die for him, and the idea. But that's just how passionate I feel about the right of mankind to own their own property. Aside from my kids, the only thing I'd give my life for is Liberty and Freedom. Without that, nothing else truly exists, unless the government "allows" it to.

To make a long story short, I know too late, we have to pick our battles wisely. We're up against anyone and everyone who's ever had a wet dream about conquering the world, whether it be Cesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Rockefeller or whoever. The American people's attention span is about 12 seconds. If there is one battle to fight, it's for the elimination of property taxes. They'll demand to know, "where are we supposed to find the money to replace the property tax revenue?". Tell them, "you're the elected official, you tell me. Just keep your dirty hands off my home!".

Being 'Joe Six-Pack', I'm not for creating a tax shelter for billionaires who hide their fortune in a thousand mansions. If I had my way, every American (married couples get 2) gets ONE home or property completely exempt from property taxes. If you own 6 homes, you'd pay taxes on 5 of them. At least this would protect the senior citizens, the small farmers and the working class families who pass their home down from one generation to the next, because one of the definitions of America was the fact that you COULD build a home with your bare hands without EVER worrying about the government taking from you. After all, this is America. That was a promise from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and all the other founding fathers. Find somewhere else to find your "revenue". Stop making good, hard-working Americans homeless.

Joe Six Pack and the Six Pack Posse