Letter to the Editor with quotes to remember

By Jesus Alaniz
“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
–James Madison
 
“He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.”
–Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1776
 
“If our Trade be taxed, why not our Lands, or Produce in short, everything we possess?”
–Samuel Adams (1722-1803), was known as the “Father of the American Revolution.”
Source: after the Stamp Act of 1765.
 
“Taxation with representation ain’t so hot either.”
–Gerald Barzan
 
“Legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways; hence, there are an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, bonuses, subsidies, incentives, the progressive income tax, free education, the right to employment, the right to profit, the right to wages, the right to relief, the right to the tools of production, interest free credit, etc., etc. And it the aggregate of all these plans, in respect to what they have in common, legal plunder, that goes under the name of socialism.”
–Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before — and immediately following — the French Revolution of February 1848
 
“It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this:
the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.”
–Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before — and immediately following — the French Revolution of February 1848.
Date: June 1850
Source: “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat (1848)
 
“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
–William Boetcker (1873-1962) German-born Presbyterian clergyman
Source: “The Ten Cannots” (1916)
 
“Subsidies entail politicians’ taking the citizen’s paycheck and then using it to buy his submission.”
–James Bovard (1956- ) American author, lecturer
Source: Harebrained Pot and Wheat Decisions, January 18, 2006
 
“Tax reform is taking the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and putting taxes on things that haven’t been taxed before.”
–Art Buchwald
 
“One of the most insidious consequences of the present burden of personal income tax is that it strips many middle class families of financial reserves & seems to lend support to campaigns for socialized medicine, socialized housing, socialized food, socialized everything. The personal income tax has made the individual vastly more dependent on the State & more avid for state hand-outs. It has shifted the balance in America from an individual-centered to a State-centered economic & social system.”
–W. H. Chamberlin (1897-1969) American historian, journalist, author
 
“You don’t make the poor richer by making the rich poorer.”
–Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
 
“The men who administer public affairs must first of all see that everyone holds onto what is his, and that private men are never deprived of their goods by public men.”
–Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator
 
“When more of the people’s sustenance is exacted through the form of taxation than is necessary to meet the just obligations of government, such exaction becomes ruthless extortion and a violation of the fundamental principles of a free government.”
–Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) 22nd & 24th US President
Source: Second Annual Message, December 1886
 
“The best way to put more money in people’s wallets is to leave it there in the first place.”
–Edwin Feulner