Happy BirthdayThomas Jefferson - April 13

Born in 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia, Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He began his political career in 1769 in the Virginia House of Burgesses (legislature). Forty years later, he retired as president of the United States. He died on July 4, 1826, at Monticello, his home in Virginia. Jefferson once said, “All my wishes end where I hope my days will end—Monticello.”

The maxim of buying nothing without the money in our pockets to pay for it would make of our country one of the happiest on Earth. –Thomas Jefferson

And, on another note..............

April 18—U.S. Tax Day
(April 30 for Canadians)

Did you know: In the U.S., the usual April 15 IRS filing deadline has been extended by 3 days this year, thanks to a weekend and a D.C. holiday called Emancipation Day. We'll take it!

Here’s something to think about while you do your taxes: In the 1730s, all residents paid the same tax. Benjamin Franklin circulated an essay decrying “the inequity of this tax . . . since a poor widow housekeeper . . . paid as much as the wealthiest merchant.”

This led to a reform law with a tax that was proportional to the property. Ben’s proportional tax—the greater the wealth, the higher the percentage assessed—resembles the U.S. federal income tax, enacted in 1913, with its progressive rate.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. –Benjamin Franklin