Just like when a 12th Century king declares he wants a bigger bejeweled crown and some more wenches, so he sends a goon squad out to plunder his subjects and shake them until hidden coins fall out of their socks, so reigns Chairman George Schwartz in Stafford. “The subjects free will, be damned” you can almost hear him utter when the public hearing session began in a crammed-packed chambers.

If you like keeping some of your money, Stafford County may not be the right place for you. Regardless of your party affiliation yesterday, if it’s not crystal clear that our homegrown crew of elitist Democrats will tax you into bankruptcy when times are good, and tax you even more when times are bad, then you just aren’t living in reality anymore, and you certainly aren’t living in Stafford County.

As if one should need any proof of this on a national level, “America’s chickens have come home to roost” here in Stafford! And after they roost, they’re going to eat your cat and steal your wallet.

Stafford County Democrats George Schwartz, Joe Brito, Bob Woodson and Harry Crisp have approved a highly controversial businesses tax, called the Business, Professional and Occupational License or “BPOL” in a meeting that stretched until later than 3:00 am!

These liberals call it a “revenue generator” for the cash-strapped jurisdiction, but let’s be clear: RAISING TAXES IS NOT A REVENUE GENERATOR- it’s a TAX INCREASE!

A revenue generator could be the world’s largest ball of yarn at a two-seat diner along Route 1. Tourists come, spend their money, we tax them for pancakes, the diner employs people, they buy things, and the economy goes round and round. If we’ve planned our area correctly, the tourist might also decide to fill up with gas while he’s here and “ooh” look at that, something to buy at the farmer’s fruit stand across the street! … more tax income and revenue generation for the county… The farmer gets so busy that he eventually sells to Giant Foods, and the Diner outgrows his two-seater and upgrades to an IHOP franchise a year later, and viola-a growing economy emerges from the FREE MARKET as it was always intended (I’m leaving out the part where Stalinistic building permits, Marxist zoning restrictions and hippy environmental lobyists restrict the sale of the grocery store to less than 10,000sf, and tell the diner owner what he can’t do with his own property which results in a lawsuit that he eventually wins, but nevertheless slows the process to a grinding halt for 36 months just to get a siteplan review—but that’s for another rant.)

What all Democrats seem to never grasp is that REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH is UN-AMERICAN and quite SOCIALIST! A tax on businesses is a TAX. It is something that someone else takes from you that they didn’t earn. Taxing a business for the 15th time – literally, is no way to foster a healthy business economy.

After many DOZENS of people spoke out against this tax in person, they shoved it through anyway. The only people who spoke for it, were the usual crowd of liberals who offer the all famous lines, “someone should do something about our need for more cash.” Isn’t it amazing how that someone is always “someone else” whose checkbook must be opened? Not one supporter of BPOL offered an alternative.

How much combined business experience do to the elected board of supervisors have? On the Democrat side= ZILCH. All three Republicans have owned or currently own a business though! So we can very clearly see who understands the impacts of adding more taxes to a fragile balance of our local economy!

Perhaps we shouldn’t be building $50,000,000 new schools when our student population is declining? Perhaps we shouldn’t be using $60,000,000 to buy swamp land when we have dangerous roads to pave? Perhaps we shouldn’t be building mega-million dollar police, fire & rescue headquarters buildings until we can afford it? Perhaps we shouldn’t be restricting 12,000 acres from any development whatsoever if near a 15% grade? Perhaps we should be lobbying our state and federal boards for more of our own tax dollars to come back so we aren’t a “donor” county and state for road money?

Perhaps we could use some of these savings to improve our infrastructure, invest in tourism initiatives and incentivize new businesses? Nnnaaahhhhh- Let’s just raise the taxes on bread, daycare, gasoline, groceries, diapers, car repairs, water, eyeglasses, shoes, firewood and everything else people need. THAT’S what it means to be a Stafford Democrat apparently.

Beginning in 2010 (thank God for a small favor) the county will charge half the maximum rate allowed by state law. Gross receipts up to $200,000 will be exempt.

Now is the time for Democratic families to take a serious look at their values and consider that even if they ‘like’ big government spending, they may not be able to ‘afford’ it any more. After all, when is enough enough?

At what point in your tax level are you no longer a FREE WORKING AMERICAN? At what point are you a subservient socialist worker? We’re already above the 50% mark of how much taxes you pay in total of your income! When do we start standing in lines for bread and socks?

The DMV is now charging you $5 to stand in line and talk to a live human teller! Someone remind me WHY WE NEED A DMV IN THE FIRST PLACE? My car runs just fine without a sticker on the windshield or a license plate on the back. Everything else is JUST ANOTHER TAX.

I’ve never seen so many NEW TAXES introduced during such a slow economy. My family is tightening up, why can’t my government? I suppose it’s just “someone else’s job” to worry about that since our government is rapidly becoming no longer “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, but rather, “tax the people, from other people, to my people.”