Back To The Fifties

The article starts out: "Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found." You can read the complete article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-05-10-taxes_N.htm

Some the reasons given for the low taxes are the Stimulus Plan, Clinton & Bush tax cuts and Sales Tax. Sales tax collections are down because people are spending less.

My income tax is down but my property is up enough to make up for it. Sales Tax is a moot point for me because Oregon doesn't have a sales tax. What do you think? Are your taxes down?

WHO AM I?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the woman featured in yesterday's Who Am I? Try out today's. Remember to not post the answer on the blog but to email me the answers at williamjdahn@aol.com

Born in Greece in 1892 I became a suffragette in the United States. While I attended five years of middle and high school in Greece I was taught to read and speak English in New York. My father was a successful Greek traveling tool salesman. There were five children, four daughters and a son. One of my sisters died in infancy. I was on a constant quest to find ways to escape my fate. The role of promised bride, obedient, uneducated and instant mother, subservient to the males of her family, and confined to the small-mindedness of her village, made me rebellious and a disgrace to Mom. I was determined that somehow, someday I would escape. My mom arranged a marriage for me to a family that would overlook my outspokenness for the right amount of dowry. When I found out I flew into a rage, but not before berating my mother and future mother-in-law. I even attempted to wound the would-be groom. I worked out a plan with my older brother to go to America as soon as my brother could send me a ticket. I secretly worked as a seamstress in the garment district of New York to save money to move on if I felt so inclined. While working I hired a woman to teach me how to read, write and speak English. I was determined not to be considered a "dumb foreigner." I also joined forces with the suffragettes in New York to work for the equality of women. I marched in their parades and protested wherever they needed me. When love entered my life and when I decided that the time had come to consider marriage I did two things. First, I told my beloved that I would not marry him until women got the right to vote. I wanted to be assured that I would have the backing of the laws of the United States of America in any actions that prior to the vote would not have been possible. Secondly, I designed a marriage contract that stipulated that I was to be my husband's full partner in any business ventures. The contract also stated, should I have any daughters, they too would be entitled to the same shares in the businesses as my sons, and that the girls would have a college education if they so desired. I became a leader in the Greek community in a major Ohio city. I helped found the first school to teach English to Greek immigrants. During the Depression I and my children organized the wealthy Greeks to donate food, money and clothing to the poor in the neighborhood. World War II saw me organize the Greek women into a volunteer force for the Red Cross. I taught myself how to drive by rolling the car out of the driveway in the dead of night, pushing it down the street and then starting its engine. This was one thing that my husband insisted I not attempt due to my small size (I was only 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed about 95 pounds). He truly feared that the cars would "strain" me. My fiery temperament may have been a factor he might have considered negative to driving etiquette. In any case, he should have known better than to tell me I could not do something. I became an American citizen long before my husband. I sent my daughter to college and encouraged her to take flying lessons in order to help the war effort. When I arrived in America, the immigration officers at Ellis Island gave me a new American name because they could not pronounce, let alone spell my Greek name. After my marriage I took on the anglicized form of my husband's name. I refused to be called by any other name the rest of my life. I died in Ohio in 1968 Who Am I?