Fourth of July

by on July 4, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Today we celebrate the day that a group of well-armed men came together and did something crazy.

They came from every major religion in America, from Catholics to Unitarians to Congregationalists and more. They were men of politics and business. They were old men and young men. Some were great orators. Others preferred silence. Some would be ruined by what they did. Others rose to prominence because of it. One of them would become the first President of the nation born out of this action, and dared the British to come get him by signing his name as large as possible.

They did not wish to be taxed without being represented. They did not wish to be forced to buy things they did not wish to buy. They did not wish the government to take their firearms away from them. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to break the American colonies away from the King of England, the most powerful empire of the day.

Today we celebrate that they did not fail. That America lives because of them.

So go ahead and celebrate the birth of our nation by blowing a piece of it up. Trust me. Our founders would totally understand how that feels.

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Jack of Harts Commentary

by on July 3, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Official United States of America policy is that all colonies created by American interests are American colonies and therefore subject to colonial tax rates. There have been some disagreements over that policy. There have even been some that elevated to the level of stiff words and bullets. New New York is an interesting case. They were colonized by Old New York City and claimed they should pay only the State tax rates. The Federal Government disagreed and levied colonial taxes. What resulted was a fifteen-year legal battle between the United States of America and Old New York City, which ended when the Federal Government agreed to accept State tax rates from the growing colony world. And though the tax rates are lower, the absolute wealth of that star system has resulted in impressive amounts of money for the Federal Government. Several American battle squadrons have the “Paid For By New New York” stamp on their keel plates.

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Jack of Harts Commentary

by on July 2, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The United States of America in Jack’s time officially includes the States, territories, and colonies throughout the Solar System, as well as the territories and colonies beyond the Oort Cloud. Yes, there are numerous American States on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Luna, and several other moons and planetoids throughout the Solar System. They have full representation in the Federal Government. There are no States outside the Solar System, though there are many systems who fly the American flag, govern themselves, and pay the lesser tax rates of States rather than territories or colonies. The cutoff for applying for such status is usually when they gain agricultural and industrial self-sufficiency. Once they can feed and defend themselves without homeworld support, America has graciously decided to grant them autonomy. Yes, there are charges of taxation without representation. Very few of them have resulted in open rebellion because America generally sees the wisdom of letting them have their sovereignty rather than trying to hold onto them against their will. You could say we learned that lesson with George Washington and have tried to remember it.

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Jack of Hart Commentary

by on July 1, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

You may ask how the American Federal Government is able to maintain one of the largest fleets in our sector of space when it lacks an Income Tax to support it. The simplest answer is that the Federal Government cannot directly tax American Citizens. It CAN however tax the American States, and require that they hand over a part of their tax earnings to the Federal Government. But the States often display reluctance to hand over vast amounts of money to the Feds, so they have to keep such taxes to a modest level that the States are willing to pay. It is much easier for the Feds to require territories and colonies who do not have Federal Representatives to lobby in their favor to pay their taxes. Those taxes can be…much more lucrative to the Federal treasury than relying on the largesse of the State Governments. You may infer from this that the Federal Government of the United States of America is not universally loved and adored by all American territories and colonies throughout the galaxy. You would be accurate in that assessment. But when an American battle squadron those taxes help build stops by for a friendly visit, they are most certainly welcomed with a smile.

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Jack of Hart Commentary

by on June 30, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Another major difference between Jack’s America and our own America is the utter lack of gerrymandered Congressional districts for the House of Representatives. Though that is only because there ARE no Congressional districts at all. Gerrymandering is the political art of designing a voting district so it will always vote the way you want it to. It was a very unpopular but very effective political tool for centuries in America. Then the Second Great Depression happened and the States imposed just a little bit of Parliamentary rules on the Federal Government when they reformed it. American Citizens, and ONLY American Citizens, vote on a State-wide basis for which political parties they wish to represent them, and the seats are divvied out proportionate to the total votes in that State. More populace States spread their seats out into several major and minor parties, while less populace States grant their single seat to the party that gained the most votes. As you may guess, this difference has resulted in a greatly changed political landscape in Jack’s America. Some say it is better. Some worse. Your mileage may vary.

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