“The power to tax is the power to destroy.” Those are not my words. They were uttered by Chief Justice John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819.

        In Providence, RI 1,200 businessmen and women received notices from the State to cease their business operations. They failed to turn over to the government tax money that they were obligated to collect. No matter that their customers didn’t pay them and they fell behind. There is no compassion built into government tax codes.

        Government officials showed up at businesses and ordered shop owner to lock their customers out. The only thing missing from this horror scene were the agents wearing the Jackboots of the SS.

        According to a report in the Rhode Island news one small owner pleaded “I understand the state needs money, but to put pressure on the small guy or the moderate guy that’s struggling, it’s not going to do any good.” It makes no common sense to put workers out of jobs in this economy. Is this the government you want to be in control of your life choices for medical care?

        Of course two trillion in “stimulus” is apparently not going to be enough to keep governments solvent; we have to punish small businessmen by putting them out of business for not paying their taxes. Meanwhile the government can tract the history of one cow from England and all if it’s progeny, but can’t locate one illegal alien who is working but not paying taxes.

        Whatever issues motivate you politically the fact is that without a strong economy, none of those other issues are going to put food in the mouths of the unemployed. I don’t believe that this miserable economy was caused by one man sitting in the oval office. Do we need to see the return of breadlines of the 1930’s before people start to reevaluate their choices in who runs the government? The last time I checked Rhode Island was solidly Democratic and not run by the President.