There are a lot of other things I'd like to have back, some of them very sentimental. Fond memories that I still revel in, like my parents, a sister that died suddenly of an aneurysm at the age of 46, pets that I've loved too, old friends and times that I would like to revisit. Many things. But life goes on and I'm happily adjusted to all of these loses and great memories that live on in my mind.

Now I've got to tell you, the reader, that it's the same with all the surplus money that you've given the Beltway Bandits, the federal government. Sixteen percent of everything you've paid in payroll taxes since shortly after 1983. It's been an ever increasing bundle that rises as your paycheck rises. And it's still happening.

Every time you donate extra retirement, health care, and other entitlement money to the government, kiss it good bye. It's gone forever.

It would be a lot better if you could just write it off as another bad experience. Something like the pretty gypsy girl that told you she would show you a good time for ten dollars. After you paid her, she showed a good time all right, dancing and laughing right in front of you before she ran off with your money.

It's pretty much the same with your extra entitlement money. It's gone, kaput, never to be seen again. Spent. The Beltway Bandits spend it on other things, most of which don't have anything to do with your welfare. It's very good for them, but not for you. They don't have to tighten their belts at all. They can laugh and dance right in your face.

But they're not running off or letting you know that you've been had. They're not as honest as the gypsy girl. In fact, they're still tricking you by promising good times just around the corner. Just keep laying out the money.

I'm really sorry folks, but there's no way to get your money back. Not without the double taxation "Pay-It-Again, Sam" plan—on top of continuing new payroll payments for you or your children as future workers and taxpayers. There's nothing in those debit black holes that they call trust funds. Nothing but debt. Promissory notes. Demands on future taxes. They might as well be markers held by the Mafia.

You would truly be better off if you threw your surplus payroll taxes in the ocean. Giving 16 percent of your payroll tax to other bottom feeders. At least, that way you and your children wouldn't be going further in debt.

Marketable or nonmarketable chits, honest or dishonest notes, it doesn't matter. You are the only ones that can come up with the cash to pay them off either way, plus interest. Its these phony bonds we ought to throw in the ocean. All of them. They represent nothing but double taxation, plus interest, and a few perks for federal employees and judges.(see: trust fund list)

You could put a stop to it. In fact, it's only the American workers, as victims of this scam, that are able to put a stop to it. No one else can or will to do it. The pirates are enjoying it and have little reason to stop. The current drain is more than $300 million a day, and growing. As multiples increase, it's headed into the trillions.

It's not like the gypsy girl. You can avoid her next time she or her sister come around. Here, your employer is going to take these deductions from your paycheck and send the money to the government anyway. So, what can you do?

I'm afraid that it's going to take threats and more drastic action no one should be forced to contemplate. Short of replacing everyone in federal government, what do we have left? I guess you could accept slavery or serfdom and hope that someday we get a benevolent King.

And I'm sorry if I seem to be the only person telling you this. I can't help it. When I was a market researcher and consultant, my partner once told a client: "Ed could be sinking in sh..(excrement) up to his chin, and he'd still be trying to convince you of something if he thought it was for your own good."

My God folks, this is our country. The "great experiment" in freedom. They're supposed to work for us, not against us and certainly not by robbing us. Let them know that you're wise to their game. Complain. Bitch. Yell and scream. Don't re-elect them. Watch how fast they backtrack in the face of an angry populace. Don't give up, or depend on someone else to carry the torch.