Tags: Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, Gibbons, Ancient Rome, taxation, spread the wealth, tax the rich, overspending,
Silver Certificate, currency devaluation, President Clinton, Al Gore, Bob Kerry, Robin
Hood, taxing out of debt, George Mitchell, national debt, House of Representatives,
Charles Schumer, Nero, Medicare, Social Security, corporate income tax,1990 Budget act,
Ronald Reagan, Reagan tax cuts, tax on the wealthy, Senate Finance Committee, Uncle Sam,
Apostle Paul, Tarsus, Hellenistic Jew, persecution of the church
Gibbons wrote in The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire, "Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures; since the
productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the Roman empire, the labour of an
industrious and ingenious people was variously, but incessantly employed, in the service
of the rich. In their dress, their table, their houses, and their furniture, the
favourites of fortune united every refinement of conveniency, of elegance, and of
splendour, whatever could soothe their pride or gratify their sensuality. Such
refinements, under the odious name of luxury, have been severely arraigned by the
moralists of every age; and it might perhaps be more conducive to the virtue, as well as
happiness, of mankind, if all possessed the necessities, and none of the superfluities, of
life. But in the present imperfect condition of society, luxury, though it may proceed
from vice or folly, seems to be the only means that can correct the unequal distribution
of property. The diligent mechanic, and the skilful artist, who have obtained no share in
the division of the earth, receive a voluntary tax from the possessors of land; and the
latter are prompted, by a sense of interest, to improve those estates, with whose produce
they may purchase additional pleasures. This operation, the particular effects of which
are felt in every society, acted with much more diffusive energy in the Roman world. The
provinces would soon have been exhausted of their wealth, if the manufactures and commerce
of luxury had not insensibly restored to the industrious subjects the sums which were
exacted from them by the arms and authority of Rome."
Taxation is never a solution to resolve
the problems created by overspending. In this case the policy we now are adhering to in
modern society spelled financial disaster for this ancient culture; to the extent of
absolute elimination of that particular civilization altogether. It took some time, as we
will discuss later.
For now suffice it to say that if
history is any indication, then America was establishing a very dangerous financial
precedence in the 90's. It is interesting that Rome eventually had to devaluate gold and
silver in the later empire. To consider the value of our current dollar bill that can no
longer be redeemed for silver as the now extinct Silver Certificate, one has to wonder how
far The United States of America is off the course of its ancient example, Rome.
President Clinton got himself elected
promising he would tax the United States out of debt. The only way that he could propose
this successfully was to assure the bulk of America that the money would not be coming out
of their pockets. He said he would get his money from the rich. He was a modern Robin
Hood, a champion of the common man. What better solution could we have other than to
"rob from the rich to give to the poor!" The wealthy have plenty of money. It is
time for them to carry the load.
"I think the American people want
action," assured Senate Majority Leader, George Mitchell in asserting that the Senate
supported the President's plan. "I think the American people want change. And this
Senate has taken a step toward giving it to them."
House Budget Committee Chairman Martin
Sabo declared, "They elected a new president with a new vision for the future. .
.Today's the time for us to deliver."
You will also leave that place with
your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped
by them. (Jeremiah 2:37 niv)
What were these "trusted"
people to deliver? . . .One of the biggest tax increases in history. It was an increase
that the Senate GOP leader characterized as "the largest tax increase in the history
of the world." This increase would focus its attention on the large corporations and
the wealthy.
All of this was to be done in the name
of reducing the National Debt. When President Clinton was asked why Americans would be
happy to pay higher taxes he responded, "I think the American people want us finally
to step up to the bar and reduce the national deficit and get it down to zero and get some
economic growth going. . .We're finally beginning to face our problems in a mature
fashion, and I'm encouraged."
This "mature" solution of
taxing our way out of debt was the Roman solution. It failed in Rome, it will suffer a
similar fate in America as well.
In spite of the consistent historical
record that testifies that an economic plan such as this would surely fail, the nation's
legislators began to deliberate the merits of the proposed solution. In the midst of the
intense debate, the president took his case to the people. "It's been at least 30
years since the president has asked Americans to take personal responsibility for our
country's future," he insisted. "No more something for nothing. We're all in
this together. . .We're on the verge of breaking out of the old false choice between
tax-and-spend and trickle down, between abandonment and entitlement." The president
was proposing something new. It was a measure that he contended was fair and did a
responsible job of reducing the deficit. It was intended to "revive the American
dream by restoring the economy."
Then the president turned his attention
to Congress and declared, "Now there are only two choices, our plan or no plan."
So, on, May 27, 1993, the House of
Representatives narrowly passed the president's budget by a tally of 219-213. Rep. Charles
Schumer could only say, "If we don't vote for the president, we cut him off at the
knees. We can't do that. . . we must show the country we can govern."
President Clinton was in a victorious
mood. He proclaimed that the House had voted "no to gridlock, no to the status quo
and no to the special interests who worked so very hard to frighten Americans."
"This is our historic opportunity
for getting our economic house in order," he later said.
The bill still had to pass through the
hands of the deeply divided Senate. In fact, the budget came down to the vote of one man.
Senator Bob Kerry had spent weeks pondering his decision but could not make up his mind.
Then, when the tally was taken, he voted "yes" to President Clinton's measure
stating that he "could not and would not cast a vote that would bring down" the
administration. As it turned out, his vote made it a tie that was broken by Vice-president
Al Gore.
Not a Republican in either chamber voted
for the budget. Many Democrats jumped ship as well. Bob Dole noted that it was
"certainly not a mandate, two votes in the House and one in the Senate. . .This is a
bad plan," he added. "It raises taxes, and it does little to effectively reduce
government spending or control the deficit."
Nonetheless, though it only passed by
three votes, a budget was produced for America that carried with it the spirit of Nero. It
was a measure designed to continue to support government extravagances through taxation.
It was an act that had set its aim towards the wealthy, the very class of people that Rome's
Nero set his sights on as a tax base to bolster his excessive spending. It was in this
context that President Clinton signed the bill proclaiming, "Today we come here for
more than a bill signing, we come here to begin a new direction for our nation."
What were the specifics of this
"new direction?" Income taxes of the wealthy would go up. High wage earners
would be subject to a 2.9% payroll tax for Medicare. Those with the higher Social Security
incomes would pay more. Corporate income tax would go up. Certain business deductions
would be eliminated. So as not to leave the middle class feeling left out, a 4.3 cent per
gallon tax on gasoline would be levied. More and more money was to be procured to feed the
gigantic governmental machine that had purposed itself to spend -- spend -- and spend
again.
In the 1990 Budget act, the government
had once before adopted the liberal agenda and raised taxes under the same premise as
incorporated by President Clinton. It was a dogma that insisted that one could lower the
deficit by taxing the "rich." What was the result? The deficit ballooned!
In the spirit of Nero, the liberal
Democrats had determined in their agenda to punish those who had profited under the
Republican dynasty started by President Reagan the decade before. They claimed that 12
years of Republican administrations featuring tax cuts for the rich had left America with
a terrible dept.
The truth was that the Reagan tax cuts
were for everyone, and everyone benefited. All income groups saw their incomes rise from
1980-1989. Economist Alan Reynolds pointed out, "The mean average of real income rose
by 15.2% from 1980 to 1989. . . compared with a 0.8% decline from 1970 to 1980." Yes,
the middle class shrunk, but it was because people had gotten rich.
As far as the affluent were concerned,
the much-maligned "top 1 percent" of earners increased their share of the total
tax burden dramatically during the 80's. In 1981, the top 1 percent paid 18.2 percent of
federal taxes. By 1988, the top 1 percent was paying 28 percent of total taxes. This was
in spite of the fact that they were allotted tax breaks! Figure it out for yourself. The
answer becomes obvious.
Just as the supply-side economists
predicted, cutting tax rates actually increased the flow of revenues into the national
coffers. Between 1981 and 1987, federal revenues increased by 42%. Unfortunately,
governmental spending increased by 50% during the same period. Thus you have the cause of
the deficit and the source of America's economic woes wrapped up in the policy of
governmental greed.
On April 1994, Washington announced
that, barring any changes, the baby boom generation would completely exhaust Social
Security's retirement trust fund by 2036. The annual study also warned that Social
Security's disability trust fund could be thoroughly broke by 1995. Together, Medicare and
Social Security accounted for more than one-fourth of the federal budget, pumping in $1
billion a day into the U. S. economy.
On March 23, 1994, the Associated
Press announced that the Senate Finance Committee had voted to update and simplify a
widely ignored law that required individuals to pay Social Security taxes for people they
have working in their homes. It was noticed that three quarters of people who had this
help neglected to pay the taxes.
Do, you have a housekeeper? Pay the tax.
Is your gardener or baby sitter over 18? Cough it up. Uncle Sam needs your support. The
government has resolved itself to squeeze every dime it can out of ever sector of the
populace it can find the cash.
This is Nero's agenda, folks. It is the
doctrine of big government. It is the program of the one who would have people working for
the government rather than government working for them. It is the notion of the taskmaster
who would become a dictator over the people.
Now what happens in an environment when
government has decided to take its wrath out on the wealthy? The Rome of Nero could
explain it to us quite well.
In spite of his constant persecution of
the church in Rome, Nero was not able to quell opposition among his own countrymen
concerning his regime. Reacting to his unfair confiscation of their property, a group of
nobles attempted to rebel against this "tax on the wealthy." The plot was
betrayed, resulting in an inquisition that culminated in the death of Rome's most
illustrious men. Nero also executed many Roman senators because they questioned his
actions.
While Nero spent two years in Greece to
participate in musical contests and games, a revolt was conspired against him that he
could have easily suppressed had he not been the coward that he was. In self-pity he fled
to the Servilian gardens, where he had once displayed his glory before the martyrs of
Christ, to lament over his state. Convinced that suicide was his only solution, he
searched for assistance in that regard, but could not even find someone to help him. In
his anguish he cried, "What an artist I am to perish!"
But learning he had been condemned to a
cruel fate by a decree of the Senate, he committed suicide with the help of his secretary,
Epharoditus. So on July 9, 68 AD the world had rid itself of this maniac as he fell into a
fate dictated by his own hands, and the judgment of a righteous God -- the One who
communicated the message of salvation to Nero through God's servant Paul.
Nero was an incredulous individual with
an eye for women carrying that "nameless vice of antiquity-love of a male
favorite." There was no sin that this man of effeminate tastes overlooked. However
God still saw fit to reach out to him through this man, Paul who was so compelled to
appear before Caesar that he jeopardized his freedom to do so. (Acts 28:16)
As it turned out, this incidental
meeting between the Ruler of the known world and a Hellenistic Jew from Tarsus became a
turning point for an entire Civilization. When Nero rejected the message, the fate of Rome
was sealed in the subsequent deaths of God's saints. Insanity was the price paid for his
unbelief as Nero proceeded to murder those who carried the message that haunted him in his
state of un-repented sin. As we will discover, Rome was never the same after the series of
events that surrounded the birth of Christ and the message preached by the Apostle Paul.
In the same way we will see how this same message is being revealed to America today.
Indeed, our fate as well hinges on the balance.
"Look, here comes a man in a
chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has
fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!'"
(Isaiah 21:9 niv)
Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Pooler’s world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa to
study under some of the most prominent early Maranatha! musicians. Subsequently he toured
the Western United States with Jedidiah in association with Myrrh Records.
Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Don’s Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label.
The next
years of Don’s life were spent as the praise leader of FirstBaptistChurch in Bakersfield
during a time of unprecedented church renewal. Don teamed with the leadership to
successfully meld the old with the new through a period of tremendous church growth.
During this exciting time, Don’s praise team, Selah, produced the CD Stop and
Think About It.
Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Don’s music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com.
The book Holy
Wars represents Don’s most recent effort to bless the church with biblical
instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not
only to God’s people, but also to God Himself.
An Incredible revival is occuring
in Northern India and Nepal. CLICK
HERE to find out more!
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This second of five books looks into a pivotal moment in American
history that corrupted her soul. It was a time when the United States was coming off an
era of prosperity created by the sound economic policies, patriotism and faith of Ronald
Reagan. However, during the '90s a president without scruples took the reigns of a house
united and tore it asunder. As a result we live in a divided America
on the brink of judgment.
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was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing. 
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