The Collector’s Coach - Ready, Set, Go!
By Jack DeAngelis
Copyright 2011 Jack DeAngelis
Smashwords Edition
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In recent months, I had been looking through some of my mother’s belongings. She was a huge fan of President John F. Kennedy, and had scribbled this quote in one of her journals:
The present tax structure artificially distorts the use of resources, inhibit the mobility and formation of capital, add complexities and inequities which undermine the morale of the taxpayer, and make tax avoidance rather than market factors a prime consideration in too many economic decisions.
John F. Kennedy, January 23, 1963, special message to Congress on tax reduction and reform
This could have been the quote that got JFK assassinated. Although it was written 48 years ago, it‘s still pretty appropriate for today’s times.
Thanks, Mom.
– Jack DeAngelis
I would like to thank my mother, Dorothy “Dottie” De Angelis, and my father, Anthony “Sonny” De Angelis for their undying support throughout my life.
And to my wife, Mary O’Brien De Angelis, for loving me, and allowing me to love her back.
Prologue
On my radio show, The Collector’s Coach, we talk about history - not just about our government, or about your friends, or the people outside of your lives. We also talk about our memories, we talk about our money, and we talk about our life.
Memories are what really makes us, and the person we are today.
Too many of us try to forget what’s back there. Those are facts that we have to embrace. The good, the bad, and the ugly of our memories is what molds us. If you go back 20 years, you’ll know the changes. That’s what the Collector’s Coach tries to do, to help you collect memories to help you with your future, your family, your friends, and your general life.
We talk about money because they will tax you. They will steal it. Stealing is one of the largest taxes that most of us pay little attention to. Trillions of dollars are being stolen as I write this book.
They tax you more today than they ever have. The one tax most people don’t talk about today is the tax on gas. We talk about money to understand the consequences of tax. It’s hard to believe I have paid as little as 18 cents a gallon. In my small span of life, I could fill up my car with $2.00 and some change.
We talk about money to understand tax. A dollar in the price of gasoline equals $180 billion dollars. In 2009, we were paying $2 for a gallon of gas. By December 2010, the average price was around $3 a gallon. That extra dollar makes a huge difference in the way we live. In December 2010, the average price for gas rose above $3 for the first time in history. We have never seen that.
As we move into 2011 and 2012, the price of gasoline in the next decade will probably go up to $5 a gallon. Each dollar resembles $180 billion dollars of American money - money that you won’t be able to spend on anything else.
Our economy is where we are today because we forgot. We forgot we spent a trillion dollars in Iraq. We forgot that we lost more than 5,000 soldiers. And maimed 100,000 more. We destroyed families. Yet, the price of gasoline continuously goes up. Memories, my friend. It’s all about memories.
The thieves are not just our government. But ourselves. We are the worst. We’ve been stealing from each other, and we’ll continue to steal from each other. We try to blame others, but we should blame who we see in the mirror. By keeping the blame on who we see in the mirror, we give ourselves more control over what we can’t control.