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I am sitting here in the sands of the Middle East, wondering what exactly is going on back home. Gainesville is my hometown; I grew up there and still have family there. Since I have been here this time (this is my fourth tour), I have read about strange happenings back there.
The health care bill passing, even though it was wildly unpopular. A California judge overturning Proposition 8, even though the citizens of that state voted for it. The federal government shutting down the state of Arizona's immigration bill.
What happened to a government of the people? We are having bills jammed down our throats that no one wants. Judges are nullifying laws that voters vote for, and the federal government is suing states for doing the job that the federal government is supposed to be doing anyway.
Just prior to the American Revolution, the felt tax rate on an individual was 1/20th of 1 percent. (I got that number from my history book), and yet our forefathers felt that it was unfair to pay that trivial amount if we weren't going to be represented in the legislature.
Today, the felt tax rate is upward of 40 percent (no one knows for sure an exact amount, because of all of the varied taxes, fees and such, which is sad). Yet, we as citizens, aren't represented anymore today than we were then. Bills are passed against the will of the governed. Bills that are voted in are nullified, and our federal government would rather sue a state for the right to do nothing about a problem than have that state fix it.
This demonstrates that every eligible voter who can read this, should ensure that they get to the polls! And be very choosy when you go, because the ones you are voting for have more power than our forefathers tolerated.
One 20th of 1 percent was enough to motivate our forefathers to fight to turn a colony into a nation. Forty percent should be enough motivation for you to take 20 minutes to vote!
Frank Fortner
Fort Stewart/Mosul, Iraq