Hard work, diligence, and persistence.

To the common and average American, those values no longer apply. As Americans hack their way through the jungle of  federal and state income taxes, a close examination of who is at fault eroding the ground supporting the tree is warranted.

Initially, the income tax was proposed at a 3% rate on the more wealthy of us. Rates of 25 to 39% were unfathomable. It was a little boost to the stability of the income stream of government. Its' persistence has been unyielding, like a disease that finally consumes its' host.

To the American family yanking down 100K per year, the disease has been so insidious as to not cause alarm. Their taxes though, eat at the very fabric of the soil holding them in unity, and bonding their respect for the country.

Consider a family of four paying $1000 a month in income taxes. Much has been said about the mortgage crisis, when in reality it is a tax crisis manifested in other forms as the American family does all it can to cope. Loss of jobs, underwater home values, and the ramp up of the subprime market had less to do with the crisis than grossly exorbitant taxes.

The government in all forms simply robs its' citizens. The interest deduction for mortgages is almost immediately negated by local property taxes. In essence, this family of four pays 2 mortgages, one to the the mortgage company, and one to Uncle Sam. It is plausible that the morgtage crisis would have not matured into such a destructive force had these homeowners simply been granted a tax holiday. Had these families been subjected to the now debated Fair Tax or a National Sales Tax rather than the constant parasitic income taxes, the flexibility of it would have allowed them to tailor their finances and adjust the tax burden, and possibly survive with their home ownership intact.

Its time to do away with socialistic schemes of perpetual enslavement and establish a tax system of merit...not politics.