MICHAEL "E" JACKSON

LOWER SALES TAX RATE TO 2%

Question: How can the Florida Department of Revenue increase income by lowering sales tax to 2%?

Answer: Tax goods AND services.

You, no doubt, have had work done on your car, or maybe to your home, in which the price of the labor was higher than the price of the parts used in the repair. Yet you had to pay sales tax on both goods AND services.

In my business I sometimes have not even charged the customer for a $2.00 part used in a $100.00 repair job in order to not have to charge the sales tax. Perhaps I am breaking the law.

But the decision would be much easier if all services were taxed at the same rate as goods - a low 2% rate.

To make it work, the taxing would have to be applied to ALL services, whether repairs, or consulting, or educational, or health care. I believe that by doing this the state revenues would actually INCREASE at this lower rate. I understand that each special interest group would want to be exempted, but the state must be firm.

It would be necessary to hire more Dept. of Revenue employees to handle the increased work load. Also, it would be necessary to launch a public awareness campaign for both business owners and customers.

The business owners would have to make sure they are duly registered with the Dept. of Revenue as a legitimate businesses. No more "under the table" businesses.

Customers would have to insist on receiving a proper receipt from businesses on which the Florida Tax Number is shown. They would actually be part of the policing effort to make sure all businesses are legitimate.

I'm sure it would "ruffle some feathers" in the beginning, but considering the fairness of application to all and the low rate, it should become a workable plan.

RUN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN

I urge our president to make the following announcement:

"Even though today the United States must be considered a secular nation, it is a country whose Christian heritage has affected many of its policies. One of those policies is to place a high value on human life, especially that of women and children. Our enemies have frequently taken advantage of this by using women and children as human shields while they meet and plot ways to destroy us, or even while they are engaged in active combat operations.

As of today, we have a new policy. America will no longer allow our enemies to be safe by hiding behind their women and children. We will now place a higher value on our own lives than the lives of the women and children who are used, even though unwillingly, to protect those whose evil plans seek to destroy us.

Women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq, and any other country where Americans may be engaged in active missions to help you gain your freedom, be advised of this: Whenever you see your men meeting to plot evil against us, RUN. Get as far away from those men as possible. Because if we find out they are meeting to make plans against us, we will destroy them.

Yes, we know that they will threaten to kill or hurt you if you leave them. But please realize that the future safety and freedom of women and children in your country is more important than the temporary safety you may feel by listening to their threats.

Make this announcement known widely throughout your land. Tell it in the marketplaces and in the schools and in the mosques. Yes, we would like to protect women and children. We have nothing against you personally. But your men will use and abuse you for their evil ends. We must protect our own people first. In that way we will be able to more quickly free your land of the evil men who would hold you in bondage and fear. Remember - when you see them meeting to make evil plans, RUN!"

FREE PUBLICITY FOR TERRORISTS

As I looked at the big color picture on the front page of my local newspaper of some destroyed vehicles and a few people milling around after another car bomb in Baghdad, I started thinking about what the purpose of front page coverage of these terrorist acts accomplishes. It certainly captures the reader's attention, which could lead to increased sales of the newspaper in stores. But is that what is really important here?

We have been seeing front page coverage of dramatic successes by the terrorists for several years. (Maybe a reader survey is in order to find out how many of us really want to see that type of coverage continued.)

I think it's time for another strategy. What would happen if, no matter how hard they tried, and how hideous their despicable acts, the terrorists could never win front page coverage in any newspaper, and never receive "lead story" status on TV news programs? If their evil deeds were bad enough, they might win "honorable mention" on one of the back pages.

If I were a terrorist and could no longer count on continual, free, publicity to promote my causes, I might start re-thinking my strategy.

However, our brave servicemen would get no end of front page praise for their valiant deeds in trying to free Iraq and Afghanistan from the terrorists.

COMMON MYTHS ABOUT PIANOS

Through the years, I have heard my customers make certain comments about pianos that are not necessarily true. In an effort to quell fears, answer questions, and prevent mistakes, I have put together a brochure called "COMMON MYTHS ABOUT PIANOS" Here is the first of eight myths. You can read the rest at the webpage:
www.angelfire.com/biz6/afinetune/myths.html

1. PIANOS SHOULD BE TUNED EVERY SIX MONTHS.

Not all pianos are the same. Generally, new pianos need more frequent tunings - 3 or 4 times a year for the first couple of years. But some brands do better than others. Older pianos in good condition are often more stable and need less frequent tunings - maybe once every year or two. I have seen some brands hold their tuning for several years, while others go extremely out of tune in just 3 or 4 months.

Your piano technician can judge which is best for your piano based on a knowledge of how much the piano is used, the environmental conditions, and how much the pitch varies between tunings. If you are not comfortable with his assessment, you can always solicit the opinions of other piano technicians.

Read more on the web page: www.angelfire.com/biz6/afinetune/myths.html

STATE DEPARTMENT VISA SCAM?

Earlier this year two family members of mine in Venezuela, my son's grandmother and uncle, went to the US Embassy to apply for a tourist visa. They have been wanting to visit me here in the USA for a long time, and I have been planning to show them around. After about a year of trying they were finally able to get their Venezuelan Passport and so were able to apply for an American tourist visa.

They filled out all the papers as requested and paid the application fee, which in their case amounted to half their monthly income. The day for their interview finally arrived and they took the overnight bus trip to Caracas for their appointment.

After reviewing their documents and asking them a number of questions, they were finally told that the visa could not be given them because they posed a “flight risk”. It seems that the interviewing agent did not think their situation in Venezuela was stable enough to convince him that they would not try to violate the terms of their visa – that they would end up staying in the USA.

At first I thought it was ridiculous, almost funny, that they could be considered as candidates for violating their visa. Elena is a very strict woman when it comes to following the rules. It had not even crossed her mind that the tourist visa was anything more than that – a way to come and visit me for two or three weeks and to get to know first hand about this country she is always hearing about.

Then I became angry because they were never advised ahead of time that this would even be a consideration. In other words they were being accused and found guilty of a crime they had never committed, never intended to commit, and never even known about!

To make matters worse, they were out of all that money and time with nothing to show for it except bitterness in their hearts for having been thought of as some kind of criminals for simply wanting to legally visit me for a couple of weeks and to see some of my country as tourists.

Then I thought about how many other people end up in the same boat. They pay money that is hard to come by, do their best to meet all the requirements, then end up being graded on questions they weren't even told would be on the test.

A scam is an intentional act to deceive in which the perpetrator convinces the victim that he will receive some goods or services in exchange for money or some other thing of value, when in reality the perpetrator knows that the victim will not receive anything near what he expects. It is usually designed so that there is no recourse, or such recourse is very difficult. This may be due to some cleverly worded disclaimer or due to the power wielded by the perpetrator. It is especially bad when the perpetrator is a person or organization that the victim trusts. Once such trust is violated, though, it is very hard to win back.

It would be much harder to prove the existence of a scam if the fraudulent behavior only occurs occasionally. For instance, if the perpetrator only cheated one out of five victims, then he could say that other factors were present and that it was not a scam. But if, through experience, the perpetrator knew ahead of time that possibly that many victims would end up with much less than they were led to expect, it still could be considered a scam.

Casinos operate on that basis. They give just enough promise of high gains for the investment to make people want to invest more and more, even though they know that most people end up losing money. It could be considered a legal scam, because its operation is generally known and permitted by the law in some areas.

In other cases, the goods or services being offered are real and sure, but the price being paid is so outrageous in relationship to the real cost, that it could be considered a rip-off or price-gouging. But sometimes the consumers are willing to pay such a high price due to the great desirability of the goods. Consider the case of computer software. A simple vinyl disk in a cardboard box with some instructions would probably cost only a few dollars to produce, but customers will pay 20 to 50 times its production cost in order to have what they deem valuable to them. The alternative is to go without, or to buy a less suitable item.

In the case of the visa operation carried out by the United States Department of State, the officials know from experience that many applications for visas will be denied, so the disclaimer states that the fees being paid are for only the application, without any guarantee that a visa will be granted. However, they do not state that they are looking for information which is not requested in the application. In other words the applicant is being judged on things he is not aware of, and therefore has no way of preparing a suitable defense for such judgment. And since the application fee is so high in comparison to the services provided, it could well be considered a scam operation.

Perhaps the U.S. State Department could learn a lesson from all this in relationship to the current illegal immigrant situation. If a person of little means has to invest a month's income in order to merely make an application for a visa without any assurance that the visa will be granted, then he will probably look for an alternative. Theoretically he could invest a year's income making continuous applications, and still not be able to enter the US. But if the same amount of money given to a coyote would give him a 90 percent chance of entering the US, though illegally, he would most likely take that course of action.

I would encourage our State Department to not hide anything from its “customers”. If the customer will be judged on certain things, he should be informed ahead of time so that he can prepare his defense. It's only fair. The application fee should not be burdensome, especially if there is a high probability that the application will be rejected. If it is rejected, there should be given complete reasons and suggestions to correct them in future applications.

TRANSFORM YOUR PRAYER MEETING THROUGH CONVERSATIONAL PRAYER

Back in the late 1960's I was just starting to study the Bible and understand the basics of the Christian life. The group I associated with, The Navigators, introduced me to a style of prayer called Conversational Prayer. I found it to be a very easy and effective way to pray in a group when all the group knew how to do it. Since then, I have attended prayer meetings in many places and some used this style of prayer, but most did not.

Many prayer meetings in churches today suffer from lack of enthusiasm and consequently a lack of attendance. Incorporating this method of prayer may be one way to revitalize this important ministry.

Please see the link on the sidebar to the right entitled "Transform Your Prayer Meeting" in order to read the full article on this subject I have written.

If you wish me to come and teach this method to your church or prayer group, please call me at 561-432-4121.

WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT BAPTISM?

I don't know about you, but I have visited a lot of churches through the years. And although many of them say they teach the Bible, it is strange that there are so many different views about things.

One of those things is Baptism. I was raised a Presbyterian, and my grandfather, a Presbyterian minister, baptised or "christened" me when I was a baby. As a young adult, after I had accepted Christ as my personal savior and understood more fully the Bible's teachings about salvation, I wanted to be baptised as a believer. So before I became engaged to my first wife, her father, a Baptist minister, baptised me by immersion.

Many years later I found myself in the situation where I had to baptise some people in the church where I was a pastor. I was uneasy about some of the teachings I had heard about the subject of baptism, so I decided to study the subject more fully.

So which church teaches the truth about baptism? Or is the truth somewhere in between the Baptist and Presbyterian teachings?

I invite you to click on the link about Baptism in the links section on the right side of my blog page.