Undue Burdens
Mike Williams
March 16, 2006
Every few weeks, I will gather my notes and write a column about some of the most asinine things that people have either said or suggested. It doesn?t need to be limited to politics. Unfortunately, most of the ?good? stuff is political. The story in the Pocono Record about why folks don?t need to have a photo ID to vote is a keeper. Granted, it was an opinion piece yet, it was wrong on so many levels. Another story involved a ?brilliant? idea about how Pennsylvania could help itself financially by taxing the illegal drug trade ?black market.? I?m serious. This guy even had an estimate of how much money was on the black market and how much money we could hope to gain by taxing it. You can not make this stuff up.
So let?s begin our journey into the absurd with helping Pennsylvania get out of the red ink by taxing the illegal drug market. According to LeftIndependent (www.leftindependent.blogspot.com), that?s all we would need to do. According to blogger Pat Rogers, Pennsylvania has a 5.9 billion dollar a year industry that goes untaxed by the government. Ah, I believe that?s why it?s called ?a black market.?
What makes Pat?s assertions ridiculous from the beginning is the notion that anyone would truly know how much money is on the black market. This is not the type of money that gets reported. First of all, he?s citing the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime. They can?t seem to nail down the ?oil for food? thing but, when it comes to the black market,? the U.N. is ?all over it.? Secondly, how are they going to figure out what individuals are spending on illegal drugs? Are they getting the information from the dealer?s 1040-EZ?
I don?t think so. Perhaps, they are getting the information from the drug dealer?s 1040-NARC form or the ever popular form 1040-WAZUP.
So, let?s talk about how you would implement this new tax. I?m drawing a blank here. Do we go door to door and ask people ?do you deal drugs?? If they answer YES, then we hand them some new paperwork and ask them to fill it out so they can properly report the new taxes. The dealers could then pay quarterly like everyone else. Problem solved. Oh, wait a second. Illegal drugs are?well?illegal. I guess we have to arrest them but, if we do that, how do we collect our new found tax revenue?
I know. They can spend their time in the ?big house? making license plates to pay back the debt to society. In fact, I?m sure there will be such a demand for Pennsylvania?s new ?Aids Awareness? license plate that the yet to be tapped labor would be much appreciated.
I give Pat Rogers credit for coming up with a new way to tax people. Unfortunately, the idea stops there. Tunnel vision. My, isn?t that nice?
The next story comes from The Pocono Record. In this ?bang up? piece of prose, a writer wants our governor (?Fast Eddie? Rendell) to veto legislation that would require voters to show a photo ID at the polls when they vote. What?s even more ridiculous is that we?re not doing this already. In his piece, the unnamed writer says, ?Gov. Ed Rendell should pick up his pen, pronto, and veto House Bill 1318. The voter photo ID bill sets forth requirements for voting that are unnecessary and burdensome. They purport to secure the voting process, but would end up suppressing the vote.?
Gee wiz. We already have to show ID when we rent a car, get into an accident, and board an airplane. Why should we have to ?whip it out? yet again at the voting booth? It?s not fair I tell you.
It?s hard to do much of anything these days without a photo ID. Even Al-Qaeda?s been having a few problems. You can?t go to the bank without ID for the most part. You can?t drive in Pennsylvania without it. If you win the lottery, guess what? They?ll need your photo ID. In the military, try to walk around a Navy ship or base without it. With all of that being said, who doesn?t have a photo ID?
I suppose illegal immigrants could probably use one. Might come in handy. But wait, they are here illegally. Well, just how many people don?t have a photo ID? The writer enlightens us. ?Anywhere from 6 to 10 percent of the electorate does not have photo identification.? Wow, that?s a lot. How does he/she come up with 6 to 10 percent? The writer never mentions it. Pulls the number out of his/her rear end, me thinks.
Pennsylvania should be expanding access to the ballot box, not restricting it for reasons not even shown to be valid. Support the governor's opposition to H.B. 1318, which represents an unreasonable, unnecessary and undue burden on citizens' constitutional right to vote.? Proving who you are is an ?undue burden.?
Let?s expand the logic outward for a moment. Having to show my military ID when I wish to go onto a Navy base is an ?undue burden.? If I go to the bank and wish to cash my paycheck, I shouldn?t have to provide a photo ID because it would produce an ?undue burden? on me and I just don?t think I can take it. Having to show those stuck up airline types my photo ID when boarding a plane is like, ?undue burden? to the third power man.
It has been said that there are more people alive today then have ever died. If we demand that folks have to show a photo ID when they vote, we discriminate against all of those who have died and still want to vote. We know they are out there just look at Washington state. If we demand photo ID at the polls, what about the illegal immigrant voter base?
If we start enforcing this crazy notion of requiring photo ID when voting, Philadelphia may have to stop ?pre-loading? voting machines as well. We just might fall down this slippery slope never to recover.
At that, my friends, is the true crime here.
So let?s begin our journey into the absurd with helping Pennsylvania get out of the red ink by taxing the illegal drug market. According to LeftIndependent (www.leftindependent.blogspot.com), that?s all we would need to do. According to blogger Pat Rogers, Pennsylvania has a 5.9 billion dollar a year industry that goes untaxed by the government. Ah, I believe that?s why it?s called ?a black market.?
What makes Pat?s assertions ridiculous from the beginning is the notion that anyone would truly know how much money is on the black market. This is not the type of money that gets reported. First of all, he?s citing the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime. They can?t seem to nail down the ?oil for food? thing but, when it comes to the black market,? the U.N. is ?all over it.? Secondly, how are they going to figure out what individuals are spending on illegal drugs? Are they getting the information from the dealer?s 1040-EZ?
I don?t think so. Perhaps, they are getting the information from the drug dealer?s 1040-NARC form or the ever popular form 1040-WAZUP.
So, let?s talk about how you would implement this new tax. I?m drawing a blank here. Do we go door to door and ask people ?do you deal drugs?? If they answer YES, then we hand them some new paperwork and ask them to fill it out so they can properly report the new taxes. The dealers could then pay quarterly like everyone else. Problem solved. Oh, wait a second. Illegal drugs are?well?illegal. I guess we have to arrest them but, if we do that, how do we collect our new found tax revenue?
I know. They can spend their time in the ?big house? making license plates to pay back the debt to society. In fact, I?m sure there will be such a demand for Pennsylvania?s new ?Aids Awareness? license plate that the yet to be tapped labor would be much appreciated.
I give Pat Rogers credit for coming up with a new way to tax people. Unfortunately, the idea stops there. Tunnel vision. My, isn?t that nice?
The next story comes from The Pocono Record. In this ?bang up? piece of prose, a writer wants our governor (?Fast Eddie? Rendell) to veto legislation that would require voters to show a photo ID at the polls when they vote. What?s even more ridiculous is that we?re not doing this already. In his piece, the unnamed writer says, ?Gov. Ed Rendell should pick up his pen, pronto, and veto House Bill 1318. The voter photo ID bill sets forth requirements for voting that are unnecessary and burdensome. They purport to secure the voting process, but would end up suppressing the vote.?
Gee wiz. We already have to show ID when we rent a car, get into an accident, and board an airplane. Why should we have to ?whip it out? yet again at the voting booth? It?s not fair I tell you.
It?s hard to do much of anything these days without a photo ID. Even Al-Qaeda?s been having a few problems. You can?t go to the bank without ID for the most part. You can?t drive in Pennsylvania without it. If you win the lottery, guess what? They?ll need your photo ID. In the military, try to walk around a Navy ship or base without it. With all of that being said, who doesn?t have a photo ID?
I suppose illegal immigrants could probably use one. Might come in handy. But wait, they are here illegally. Well, just how many people don?t have a photo ID? The writer enlightens us. ?Anywhere from 6 to 10 percent of the electorate does not have photo identification.? Wow, that?s a lot. How does he/she come up with 6 to 10 percent? The writer never mentions it. Pulls the number out of his/her rear end, me thinks.
Pennsylvania should be expanding access to the ballot box, not restricting it for reasons not even shown to be valid. Support the governor's opposition to H.B. 1318, which represents an unreasonable, unnecessary and undue burden on citizens' constitutional right to vote.? Proving who you are is an ?undue burden.?
Let?s expand the logic outward for a moment. Having to show my military ID when I wish to go onto a Navy base is an ?undue burden.? If I go to the bank and wish to cash my paycheck, I shouldn?t have to provide a photo ID because it would produce an ?undue burden? on me and I just don?t think I can take it. Having to show those stuck up airline types my photo ID when boarding a plane is like, ?undue burden? to the third power man.
It has been said that there are more people alive today then have ever died. If we demand that folks have to show a photo ID when they vote, we discriminate against all of those who have died and still want to vote. We know they are out there just look at Washington state. If we demand photo ID at the polls, what about the illegal immigrant voter base?
If we start enforcing this crazy notion of requiring photo ID when voting, Philadelphia may have to stop ?pre-loading? voting machines as well. We just might fall down this slippery slope never to recover.
At that, my friends, is the true crime here.
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