In honor of this Tax Day in these United States, I leave only a quote from Benjamin Franklin:
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Of course you’ve heard that one, but have you heard this quote from him? He was once asked if our country should ever have income or direct taxation. (You know that was unconstitutional until 1913 and the sixteenth Amendment).
“His response was immediate and direct: “No. An income tax will make liars out of the people and a despot out of the government.”
Thomas Jefferson should truly be remembered and honored today. What did he accomplish? I’ll just mention a few here. He graduated from William and Mary College and then studied law for 5 years under George Wythe, the first law professor in Virginia.
Benjamin Franklin will be the first to admit that he made mistakes. Plenty of them. However, there appear to be at least 3 mistakes he never made. He tells us about those.
The Constitution was undeniably the idea, design, and proposal of James Madison, but so also was the Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Once the Constitution was ratified and signed by the 55 Representatives of the States in Congress, it had to be approved by each of the States individually.
The Founding Fathers were patriots. The root word of ‘founding’ is ‘found’, which means to “take the first steps in building”. The first builders of the nation. The use of the word ‘father’ in this sense means originator. They began the whole thing.
On one occasion I was speaking to about 300 people at a convention in Provo, Utah. My topic was “The Pursuit of Happiness—Thomas Jefferson.” I had 55 minutes to tell about Thomas Jefferson’s life and accomplishments. Needless to say, I only got to the highlights.