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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,877 posts)
Fri May 3, 2013, 01:16 PM May 2013

Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' “Taxman”

Last edited Sat May 4, 2013, 04:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Okay, in 2006. Not quite LBN. Buzzfeed got the story from the Newport News Daily Press.

Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' “Taxman”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/ken-cuccinelli-once-filed-an-amendment-to-change-virginias-s

Searching For A Song, Legislators Weigh 'Taxman'
http://articles.dailypress.com/2006-01-31/news/0601310156_1_state-song-tax-burden-high-tax-state

Cuccinelli, a fiscal conservative who hates high taxes, decided to send his own message. He filed an amendment to recognize "Taxman" by the Beatles, a song that rails against big government with lyrics such as: "If you drive a car, I'll tax the street. If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat."

In a floor speech, the Fairfax Republican said he had nothing against the Shenandoah region, but he thought the state needed a more generalized song that had something for everyone. Virginia, he said, has a unique history.

"And taxes are a part of that history. The very building we're standing in is named after Patrick Henry. Everyone pays those taxes," he deadpanned, "and starting in about 1765 Patrick Henry began fighting the imposition of British taxes, which in turn began the American Revolution. That is our history in Virginia."


Umm, Patrick Henry wasn't quite as opposed to taxes as Cuccinelli makes him out to be. Though it is not widely known now, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison absolutely detested Patrick Henry. Why? Because Patrick Henry wanted to tax citizens to pay the salaries of clergymen.

I've heard that Thomas Jefferson detested Patrick Henry.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=334609

For Religious Freedom Day: What Jefferson Really Thought of Theocrat Patrick Henry
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rodda/2012/01/16/for-religious-freedom-day-what-jefferson-really-thought-of-theocrat-patrick-henry/

For Religious Freedom Day: What Jefferson Really Thought of Theocrat Patrick Henry
Categories: Uncategorized
by Chris Rodda

So, today {January 16} is Religious Freedom Day, the anniversary of the passage of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. No, I’m not going to post Jefferson’s statute; I’m going to post something cooler than that — one of my favorite lines ever written by Jefferson.

The background: Jefferson drafted his religious freedom statute in 1777 and introduced it in 1779, but it didn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t until 1786 that Jefferson’s statute was passed. Jefferson was in France at the time, so it was Madison who reintroduced the religious freedom statute. This was right after James Madison defeated Patrick Henry’s bill to tax everybody in Virginia to support teachers of the Christian religion.

Jefferson couldn’t stand Patrick Henry and his theocratic agenda, and made this quite clear in one {of} his letters to Madison while Madison was battling Henry’s bill for a Christian religious tax. When Madison wrote to Jefferson asking what they should do about Henry, Jefferson replied:

“While Mr. Henry Lives another bad constitution would be formed, and saddled for ever on us. What we have to do I think is devoutly to pray for his death …”


Of course, the Christian nationalist history revisionists either ignore this line from Jefferson, or claim it is made up by evil secularists to impugn the character of our very Christian founding fathers.
....

{This is} from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison on December 8, 1784, and can be found on pages 353-354 of The Republic Of Letters, The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 1776-1826, Volume I.


Patrick Henry was the first governor of Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson was the second. We really got off to a great start, didn't we?

If only Cuccinelli knew Virginia history.
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Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' “Taxman” (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves May 2013 OP
That is true - Jefferson hated Henry and theocrats JPZenger May 2013 #1

JPZenger

(6,819 posts)
1. That is true - Jefferson hated Henry and theocrats
Fri May 3, 2013, 02:59 PM
May 2013

The biographies of Jefferson that I have read describe how he hated Henry, and how they were early rivals. You are correct that the big issue of the time was whether Virginia taxes would pay for the salaries of Episcopal ministers.

Remember that Jefferson only asked that 3 accomplishments be listed on his tombstone. He didn't ask to be remembered as President, Vice-President, Secretary of State, Ambassador to Continental Europe or Governor. Instead, he asked to be remembered for being the father of UVa, the author of the Declaration of Independence and writing the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (which was a landmark statement in American history that preceded the Bill of Rights). He wrote "by these I wish to be remembered... and not a word more."

Here's Jefferson's instructions for his simple tombstone:

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