HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
July 4, 2003 Various sources have estimated that taxes consume as much as fifty percent of an average American's gross income. While that figure might be on the high side, when one reflects on the vast array of taxes, the estimate probably is in the ballpark. Most of us are all too familiar with federal and state income taxes; Social Security , Medicare and Medicaid taxes; sales taxes; real-property taxes; estate taxes; business taxes; luxury taxes; surtaxes; hotel taxes; entertainment taxes; gasoline taxes; liquor taxes; tobacco taxes--and the list goes on. What many of us fail to take into account is the number of hidden taxes that are buried in the price tags of the merchandise we purchase from the grocer, the clothier, the pharmacist, the stationer, the service station, etc. Even the fees we pay to professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers and accountants are inflated by the amount of the business taxes service providers pay to the government; then subsequently recoup by passing them along to their clients. Thus, when we factor hidden taxes into the retail price of goods and services, we might want to take a second, closer look at our total tax bill. So far we've considered overt taxes that serve to constantly remind us of the high cost of government. And we've touched upon the less obvious hidden taxes that are a part of the cost of doing business, but ultimately are paid by the consuming public. Now brace yourself, and prepare to learn about a covert form of taxation that really amounts to extortion, and ought to enrage the unwitting victims that have fallen prey to this insidious scheme. It is known among the initiated as the "kosher food tax." First, I freely acknowledge all religious or ethnic groups have a perfect right to engage in ritualistic practices related to their principles. However, when a small minority blatantly and stealthily forces its beliefs onto the majority, without the latter's knowledge, it is a safe bet that something rotten is afoot which needs to be addressed and acted upon. Jews comprise 2.9 percent of the American population. Yet the 97.1 percent of the population that is Gentile has been making--mostly without a clue--anonymous donations to one or more Jewish religious organizations on each and every one of its trips through this nation's myriad grocery checkout stands. Here is how it works: A team of Orthodox rabbis approaches the owner of a food manufacturing/processing business, and says that unless the company agrees to allow the rabbis to perform a ritual that will certify its products as meeting kosher standards (fit for a Jew to eat), the company will be faced by a nation-wide Jewish boycott. Literally hundreds of businesses have succumbed to this arm-twisting tactic. Once agreement has been reached, the rabbis charge an ample fee to certify each individual product the company has to offer. The fees are payable annually, and regularly are increased. Also, any subcontractors who contribute one or more ingredients to the finished product must pay their own fees to the rabbis. Kosher-certified products are identified by tiny symbols so inconspicuous as to go unnoticed on packaging labels, unless you know what you are looking for. The most common ones of which I am aware are either a circled U or K, or a stand-alone U or K; there are many variations. Often, but not always, they will be found adjacent to the product's net weight. The most important thing to bear in mind is this: Whatever the cost of certification to the manufacturer is, he has, without fanfare, passed it along to you and me, the consumers. It might amount to pennies or only a few mils on each unit you purchase, but when multiplied by the tens of thousands of items you buy over the course of a lifetime, it adds up to big buck$. Can you even begin to imagine how much these fees enrich the rabbis' coffers? They reap millions of dollars, that likely are invested in lobbying efforts aimed at unduly influencing the United States Congress. Hence, although Congress must be aware of the rabbis' unethical kosher food tax, it--with outstretched hands!--looks the other way. Might this help explain why Israel is the recipient of 25% of all American foreign aid? What I find most abominable is that neither the rabbis nor the food companies have the common decency to widely publicize the kosher food tax. Although I suspect the latter are held to strict secrecy in their contractual relationships with the rabbinical associations. Should Joe Sixpack ever get wind of what is going on, all hades could break loose. The burning question is, what can we as victims of this clandestine extortion plot do to right the wrong? I have exhausted the "Tell your Senators and Representative on Capitol Hill" routine. While pursuing it, I learned that elected public officials who can't be bribed, probably can be blackmailed. Unfortunately, we the people are going to have to deal with this outrageous scandal ourselves. I urge readers to forward this article to everybody they know, and ask them to please do the same. When each of us sends it to ten other people, it soon will be in the hands of millions of well-informed, highly indignant victims--an army of radical, right-wing conspirators, if you will--with the collective power to vigorously rock the political boat. Action is the key to our success. Be ready to face taunts of "bigot" and "anti-Semite." Shake them off. This is simply SOP for the liberal, leftist crowd. Ignore your hecklers, and forge ahead. Don't be meek. Don't be cowed. Get in their faces, stay the course, and "the force" will be with us. It is bad enough that we all are being shafted by government at every level: city, county, state and federal--not necessarily in that order. But when arrogant, mercenary organizations in the private sector boldly pick our pockets in the name of religion, it is time that we who believe in moral absolutes stand up and be counted. It still is not too late to take back our country from the progressives and neocons. Nevertheless, the clock is running and time is short. Don't set this issue on the back burner to simmer; keep it up front. Keep it hot! Our liberty and precious freedoms hinge on our ready willingness to make our shrill voices heard in high places, and to steadfastly fight for equal justice for all. ------------ Email Warren H. Wilson: iq138@msn.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
