…could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

…could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans despite having a black President, a black Attorney General, and black Americans comprising 17.1% of the federal workforce (compared to 10.1% of the general population)*.

…could two people most responsible for our tax code – Timothy Geithner (head of the US Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (former Chairman of the US House Ways and Means Committee) – BOTH turn out not just to be tax cheats but also in favor of higher taxes.

…can terrorists kill people in the name of Allah, and the mainstream media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

…would people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who illegally enters the USA just ‘magically’ become American citizens.

…could people who believe in balancing the budget and upholding the country’s Constitution be thought of as “extremists.”

…would you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check, purchase alcohol, or buy cigarettes, but not to vote!

…could people demand the government investigate or limit “excessive” profits by oil companies, despite the fact that the return on equity – ROE – invested in a major U.S. oil company (Marathon Oil, at 10.23%) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike, at 21.3%) and less than one-quarter that of a computer company (Apple, at 41.81%).

…could the government collect more tax dollars from taxpayers than any nation in recorded history, spend a trillion dollars (that’s “$1,000,000,000,000″) more than it has collected per year – for total spending of $7-Million PER MINUTE – and still complain it doesn’t have nearly enough money.

…could people classified as “rich” – the top 20% who pay over 94% of  federal income tax – be accused of not paying their “fair share” by the 40% who don’t pay any Federal income taxes at all (Click here to see the official breakdown).

Source: This appeared in my email recently, and I believe the earliest published version of this is “Only in America…..” By James Delingpole, June 8th, 2012, “The Telegraph” UK. I’ve reworded the article slightly, added links to provide background information, and updated some of the numbers.

*FYI: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and UN Ambassador Susan Rice are also black.

Thanks for reading!