"The tree of freedom is occasionally watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots"

Excerpts: The Public Policy Losing Faith in the Feds By Ralph R. Reiland

For the upcoming November elections. . . the majority of Democrats are fundamentally out of step with a country that's increasing sounding like Patrick Henry and Paul Revere.

We know what happened the last time a critical mass of self-reliant and independent people in this part of the world decided that the government was a threat to their right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness: "That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."

The king, with "a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states," had "erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."

What were taxes at the time, in 1776? "English taxes were in the range of 1 percent of income in most colonies, and possibly as high as 2.5 percent in the plantation colonies," writes author Gary North. "For this, they went to war."

Today, reports the Tax Foundation, "Americans pay more in taxes than they spend on food, clothing, and housing combined."

On average, taxes ate up every cent we earned last year from January 1 through April 13, according to the Tax Foundation's analysis: "Tax Freedom Day answers the basic question, 'What price is the nation paying for government?' An official government figure for total tax collections is divided by the nation's total income. The answer last year is that taxes amounted to 28.2 percent of our income, and the stretch of 103 days from January 1 to April 13 is 28.2 percent of the year."

Add last year's unprecedented federal budget deficit to the total taxes collected and the cost of government moves to May 29. That's 41 percent of our total income to pay the price of government. Thomas Jefferson thought it was time to grab the muskets off the wall at 1 percent. . .

"Tea Party favorite for governor of Texas," Debra Medina, "reminded those at a rally that 'the tree of freedom is occasionally watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.' ". . . Medina was quoting Jefferson, the same Jefferson who said that things work best when it's the government that is afraid: "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."