A Most "Taxing" Day...
Yes, friends, time to ante up to your favorite uncle...the one named SAM, and if you haven't done so yet, you've still got until midnight tonight, unless you've filed for an extension (which buys you until 15 August, or even 15 October, depending on the circumstances). Now there ARE those out there who erroneously "believe" that they should NOT pay their income taxes. These would be those "tax deniers" you hear about, and it's not really all that nice to piss off your uncle Sam.
I recall a time when working for the Treasury Department, we'd come across a BLANK tax form from some shmoe. Well, it was ALMOST blank. In LARGE RED LETTERS across the form was the word UNFAIR, with a few nice exclamation points added "for effect".
Needless to say, this person's form was sent along to the QRDT division (investigative) for "processing".

That would usually bring about a phone call or three, some letters, or at worst, a knock on the door by some gentlemen in suits with shiny badges and picture IDs offering a "free ride" to the local office to straighten things out. Cuffs were "optional".

And in subsequent years, the computer system would typically "flag" that person for future "considerations".
Many claim the income tax is illegal. Sorry, but the 16th amendment of our Constitution says otherwise. Read back on the Revenue Act of 1861 for the introduction of our "income tax". It helped pay for the Civil War (for the northern states that is).
As for whether the MANNER in which taxes are collected (today) is illegal, well, that's another story.
I've always been in favor of the FLAT TAX, or a consumption tax. It's kind of like a "pay as you go" plan, based on goods you purchase and/or use. And I personally feel it's a more uniform and fair plan to everyone, but it's not like I worked with the IRS...oh, wait...I DID!
Actually, we often used the nickname INFERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to describe our "employer", but never among higher-ups. That was only for "after-hours" discussions...LOL.
As I said, I have spent some time in the employ of the Treasury Department, and that part of our government has some pretty interesting aspects to it.

There are MORE agencies under THAT umbrella than you might realize.
You have the following:
- U.S. Mints
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing
- Secret Service (NOW under Dept of Homeland Security)
- Internal Revenue
- BATFE (formerly the ATF)
- DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency)
- TTB ( Alcohol, Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau)
- FCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
- Bureau of Public Debt
- U.S. Inspector General
And there are a plethora of sub-divisions, under secretaries, and so on...(don'cha love bigger government?)
They even have their OWN FLAG!
How novel is that?
But, as with any large entity comes situations that demand a return to the oath they swear you into the agency with. Many that have been sworn in find that oath to be merely words, with no substance.
I take something like an oath to heart, and WILL defend what I have been sworn to uphold. It's the way I was brought up...your word is your bond.
Others...not so much.
And therein lies an issue many working for such an agency confront.
Do we let certain "issues" run off our backs like water off a duck, or do we try to make the system work...and work as it was designed?
Without going into detail, let's just say I had an attack of conscience at one point, and couldn't really continue in the venue and still honor the words in that oath. When the time came, I had to leave, albeit on good terms, but I could have made life really difficult for others that held the same oath we ALL took in such disregard. All they wanted was to get ahead, and at anyone's expense...even the taxpayers.
If they managed to do that...more power to them, but they should know that whatever bad they've done WILL come back to bite 'em all in the ass...sooner or alter.
As for me? Hey, I can sleep at nights quite well, knowing I did what I was SWORN to do when I was there.
I believe in this country, and what she stands for, as dictated in our founding documents.
And...I was never UN-sworn, so I still maintain the obligation to this country.
With all that said, it's nice to know that others feel likewise...and many of them have never taken an oath.

They just BELIEVE.
-- Today is also the day that we will be seeing "Tea Parties" sprouting up like weeds in the garden, all across our nation.
And to many that think these actions by ordinary citizens folly, you have to understand that this is UNLIKE the tea party back in 1773 at Boston harbor. This is not about TAXES, per se...rather, it's about getting back to the core beliefs...the values that made this nation in the first place; Principles that aided this country, in no small measure to become the global cornerstone for liberty and freedom.
It's about a smaller, BETTER government; a more efficient government that will work FOR the people, and not the other way around.
It's about a unification of, and a return to AMERICAN values; values the founding fathers and signers of our most sacred documents knew were granted from our Creator to US, so that we may endow our future generations with a like sense OF those values.
It's about getting back to BASICS, as in what the Bill of Rights and the Constitution really mean, and not what we "think" they should mean.
We don't "change" the Constitution to suit our moods and desires, but rather we attune ourselves to acknowledge the guidelines and laws set down for all to follow, in order to provide this nation with a firm foundation for us to lead by example AS a nation.
Ironically, today is ALSO the day the "unsinkable" liner Titanic sank in the Atlantic back in 1912, after striking an iceberg.
Our nation faces some very real challenges both here, as well as abroad, and unless we can "avoid the icebergs", we may suffer a similar fate as that liner did all those years ago.
But, even if we were to encounter such a traumatic event as a nation, metaphorically-speaking, I still firmly believe that we, as AMERICANS will always be survivors. Our destiny does not lead to a dead end street or a societal cul-de-sac.
We are better than that, as a nation...as a people...as individuals.
And we will weather whatever storm blows our way.
We're AMERICANS...it's what we do.
And we do it better than most everyone else.
So, wherever the fates find you today...
Stay safe out there, America.