Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are my favorite thing about Halloween. When the night of the dead comes around, I don't think of ghosts and goblins - I think of finding the pumpkin with the most seeds! Know how to do that? The more ridges in the pumpkin, the more seeds!

My mom was a pumpkin seed freak and she passed that right on down to me. I hear it every year that someone has tried and failed at roasting seeds. It may seem cumbersome or even overwhelming, but it's easy peasy... Because we've harvested seeds for so long, the techniques have been simplified and perfected.

First things first, what's the best way to harvest the seeds? Here's what I do:

• have a bucket for the pumpkin guts (line with a bag)
• have a large bowl of water
• use a wide metal spoon for scraping the innards
• when gutting the pumpkin, just get 'er done and put the guts in the bucket
• while others are carving, pop the seeds off the guts into the bowl of water to remove the sticky innards; they can float around in the water without any time concerns

Prepping the seeds:

• line a large baking sheet with tea towels
• move seeds from water bowl to dry on the baking sheet; cover with another towel to remove moisture
• allow to dry for at least :30 - longer is okay; stir them around with the towels to remove moisture

Baking the seeds:

• heat oven to 300°
• melt a tablespoon or two of butter
• put seeds in a large bowl, drizzle with butter and some olive oil (until they're covered but not dripping) and add salt
• spread seeds on a baking sheet or two (one layer)
• bake for a minimum of :45, stirring occasionally after :30
• seeds will turn light brown and possibly pop. DO NOT cool until they are crispy; popping is good, burning is bad. If they're not crispy at :45, then cook for additional :05 increments stirring every time the timer goes off
• When crispy, cool the seeds on paper towels to remove excess oil (I bake on two sheets and when cooling, cover one with paper towels and then put them all on that sheet)
• ENJOY!

I am the 99%

Income Tax is like a VAT

Michele Bachmann accused Herman Cain of instituting a Value Added Tax with the 9% corporate income tax in the 9-9-9 plan.

In the same breath, she said she'd play with the current income tax code, keep the regulations and leave the payroll tax in place.

Herman Cain wants to simplify the income tax code before completely eradicating it and replacing it with the FairTax. From the beginning with 9-9-9, it means NO income taxes or payroll taxes, NO investment taxes or capital gains taxes, NO estate taxes and fewer embedded taxes under 9-9-9 then NO embedded taxes.

So, what's a VAT tax? A European-style Value Added Tax is a federal tax on every stage of production. It's end effect is similar to our income and payroll taxes because the tax is built into the cost of the end purchase (trickle down).

See, every business needs to make a profit. When their expenses go up (inventory, rent, energy, insurance, minimum wage, taxes...), they must somehow recoup the lost profit in order to stay in business. Most businesses already operate on a shoe-string budget, especially in this economic environment, so "trimming the fat" is not an option.

The question is: does Michele Bachmann think the current income tax is better than 9-9-9 or the FairTax?

Sales Tax is not a VAT

Oh, and by the way, a sales tax is not a Value Added Tax like in Europe. A VAT is levied at every stage of production (just a few or hundreds for some products like a house). The VAT rolls downhill and gets larger with each business that touches the product, a lot like the American income and payroll taxes.

A sales tax is levied one time at the end purchase. A sales tax is a certain percent of a dollar spent at the final sale, not a culmination of taxes at every stage of production.

9-9-9 Below the Surface

Herman Cain unveiled his 9-9-9 plan a couple months ago. It seems to be catching on among fellow "tax simplicity" advocates, but it's easily demagogued by everyone else. The plan calls for eliminating the current tax code and replacing it with a 9% corporate tax, 9% personal income tax and 9% sales tax.

A first attack: it'll unfairly tax the poor and middle class since 47% of Americans pay no income tax. Well, that's right! 47% of Americans have no apparent skin in the game right now. What we're missing, though, is that these same Americans pay the most regressive tax on wages in American history - the payroll tax! 7.64% of every tax-filing worker's earnings are deducted and the employer pays the other 7.64% on the top. This is over 15% in regressive taxes only levied on the productive people in this country. The 9-9-9 plan eliminates the payroll tax.

A second attack: it lets corporations off the hook and spreads the wealth from the poor people up to the richest. Just why do we have a complicated tax code with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world? So that corporations can find loopholes! So that politicians can play their power role and jockey the code for their donors! The 9-9-9 plan removes all loopholes and transitions power of the tax code from the politicians to the people.

A third attack: a 9% sales tax is regressive! Did you know that between 12-30% of everything we purchase is embedded taxes? Because all businesses must make a profit, the cost of payroll and income taxes as well as complying with the tax code are passed down to the next purchaser of that product. By the time it's gotten to the end consumer, tens or hundreds of businesses have touched that product and added the cost of taxes into the price. 9-9-9 removes a substantial amount of compliance cost away from the business, abolishes the payroll tax and simplifies the corporate tax code by removing all loopholes.

People who are well-read on the FairTax Act (HR25/S13) understand this. When we remove the income tax, payroll tax, estate tax, investment tax and capital gains tax, the cost of goods goes down; consumers keep more of their money to spend how they choose with greater buying power; and business invest in growth rather than protection from the tax code.

What is it about the current tax code that makes the 9-9-9 plan look bad? It's a step in the right direction - with FairTax the final destination.