Of modern kings, henchmen and peons

There has been talk about raising the retirement age to 73. Why don’t we just raise it to 94? At least the next generation can work its whole life putting money into the system and not have to worry about collecting any of it. Then the following generation won’t have to worry about a shortage — there should be a huge profit in the retirement system.

I think we should raise the cigarette tax to about $8 a pack (that would mean less sick people) and the gasoline tax to about $4.50 a gallon (less pollution), give the utilities a 55-percent increase (energy research), not offer any tax rebates to homeowners (slush fund), and pay more for less benefits with health care and car insurance (pay-to-play).

We also should increase housing costs at least 65 percent. (If the cost of homes keeps going up, only the wealthy will be able to afford housing in New Jersey). That alone should cover costs for the state of New Jersey for at least 25 years, and we can do away with most of the legislators who give themselves hefty increases and lifetime benefits while telling the rest of us to cut back because of the shortfalls.

At one time the kings sat in their towers overlooking their kingdoms and sent their henchman around to collect taxes from the peons. If you didn’t pay up, everything you owned was taken until the amount was satisfied. The peons left to find a new world and told the king what to do with his taxes.

I don’t believe anything has changed since then — except now there may be new kings and new henchmen.

Joe Sinagra

Helmetta