Friday, October 5, 2007

A Day In The Life of No Freedom

On Saturday morning, I silently limped out to the mailbox to get the mail. The box is full again. I don't pick up the mail every day. It's too depressing. Back to the house and into my office to see what the mail carrier has brought me this time.

There's my mileage tax bill for the month. Moving closer to work to shorten the round trip miles hasn't helped. Ever since that law passed, taxing my miles driven, I only drive to work and back, and make sure I stop at the grocery store on the way home if needed. I don't go to church anymore - it's way across town. My motorcycle sits in the garage, unused. I can't afford the mileage tax to take those wonderful all-day rides anymore, even though the cost of gas is minimal. The government even made me pay for one of those GPS units to put on my car, and one for my motorcycle. It's a $100 fine to be caught without it.

And there's my doctor bill. Another reason I don't ride the motorcycle anymore. No insurance company will cover injuries on a motorcycle anymore, and that spill I took 6 months ago that left me with a broken leg cost me $22,000. Funny though, the insurance paid to repair the bike. The other driver, who made an illegal left turn in front of me, well, he paid his $45 fine. I didn't even have a scratch on that brand new helmet the federal government made me buy and wear. It sure protected my leg that day! Not!

I don't see a lot of motorcycles out on the road anymore. A few here and there, but not many. I guess most riders are in the same bind I am. No one will buy my bike from me, not for anything close to what it's worth.

Thanks to President Hillary Clinton, my federal taxes went sky high when she implemented free medical insurance for the nation's children, illegal or not. How ironic! I can't get medical insurance to ride my motorcycle, but the illegal aliens in the country can get free medical care, on my dime! And I was born here! Makes me wonder why I even go to work, or keep my job. Where did people think she would get the money to pay for such a thing? On trees?

Sometimes I am ashamed to be a woman. After all, it was the single and divorced women of this country who elected Hillary Clinton into office. Elect Hillary! She'll "take care of you". Oh look, a "strong woman", she deserves to be President. God, how I wish these women would read what Hillary's agenda really is. I don't think they even read, beyond the Wal-Mart advertisements. It's a Bill Clinton/soccer mom election all over again. Maybe I'll shave my hair off and pass as a man. Most of them were able to see what a mistake it was to elect Hillary.

It makes me wonder too, why I ever bothered to stand on my own two feet after my own divorce. No one "took care of me" except me. I didn't want that anyway. I wanted to be responsible for myself, and my own actions. I nurtured my ambition to excel in my job, and make a comfortable living. I wanted to enjoy my senior years, doing what I like to do best. Like riding my motorcycle. Ya right!

First they force me to wear a helmet of their choosing. I was already wearing one, thank you very much. Then they take away my medical insurance on my bike. It's too risky of a hobby, they said. People die whether they wear a helmet or not. The American public won't stand for all these "crazy" motorcyclists risking their lives anymore.

Now, those who want to ride a motorcycle to work to save on fuel, must pay mileage tax at the same rate as the gas-hog SUV next door. So much for global warming, and resource conservation.

With a big sigh, I settle onto the sofa and turn on the TV. This is the only entertainment I can afford now. I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts. In a few years, when I am forced to retire, I won't have to drive to work anymore, but my Social Security was reduced last year because the funds have been depleted. So the cable TV will have to go.

The year is 2012, almost 40 years since I graduated from high school. I'm not even 60 yet. I can still remember the year I graduated. We rode our dirt bikes all over creation and back. We raced our muscle cars on the local drag strip. Now, even dirt bikes are almost nonexistent; owners have to pay mileage tax on those too. Racing bikes are exempt, but no one goes to see them race anymore.

I miss the days, not so long ago, when you could go where you liked as long as you could buy the gas. Do what you liked as long as you didn't hurt others. Take home most of what you earned. Where did America go? Home of the free, land of the brave?



Is this story a dream? A nightmare? Or a coming reality?

First the helmet laws become mandatory, removing yet another right to choose. It's currently in progress. Some of us are fighting it, but most are just sitting back playing the waiting game.

Then insurance companies realize we die anyway, helmet or not, and find a way to limit the insurance we get for medical on motorcycles, defeating the move to amend the HIPAA loopholes. Have YOU checked your insurance coverage lately?

It's much easier to make it hard for us to ride motorcycles, than it is to remove the use of cell phones by the drivers who kill us. God forbid should people have to pull over to use a phone. I'm old enough to remember when phones were attached to a wall in your house!

Statistics show single women and divorced women vote most often Democratic, and polls have shown that they want Hillary for President. Women outnumber men in this country. You do the math.
Hillary wants medical insurance for all children to be free. That means if you don't want to work, your children's medical insurance will come out of my pocket. Don't kid yourself. The money has to come from somewhere, and it's not sitting in some federal bank somewhere earning interest.

There is already a test going on in several states, with GPS devices designed to track vehicle mileage, so the driver of said vehicle can be sent a mileage tax bill. There is no plan to designate what type of vehicle either. This is an alternative to a gas tax, since DOT's in these states claim there isn't enough money to repair the roads. No mention of bridges though.

Mileage tax is a reality folks. Gonna wait this one out too?

Think this is fiction? Think again. If the government can do this to motorcycle riders, hard working Americans who have the same rights as anyone else (or do we?), what do you think they will do next? Foreclose on your home when you can't pay the mortgage? Throw you out in the cold? It's already happening.

Don't worry, your children will have medical insurance, compliments of me.

When that happens, I'm quitting my job and moving to Australia. But I'll leave this country fighting for my rights with my last breath. And damning the rest of you "it-doesn't-affect-me-so-I'll-just-ignore-it" people.

And all you sniveling single and divorced women who whine so much about having no one "to care for you", get a grip, and when you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I want you to thank ME for your livelihood, because you didn't earn it yourself. Oh, and don't forget to thank all the bleeding heart liberals, because they took it from me, so you could have it. It's the American.... er, un-American way.

But if you're like me, a woman who knows that life isn't worth living unless you are responsible for it, sit up and take notice. Times are changing right under our noses. Government has become too powerful, too sneaky, and too self-serving. And the media is their lackey. Be above it, be smarter, be American. Fight for your freedoms and rights. Don't hand them off in exchange for empty promises.

I'm riding free as long as I can, and brave enough to fight for it. What are YOU doing to preserve freedom in this country?

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