Connecticut Taxpayers
(watercolor illustration on paper, 2007)
"There is a certain inevitability to a couple of things. Death and taxes come to mind. However, death doesn't get worse every time the legislators come together."
Anonymous
"The politicians don't just want your money. They want your soul. They want you to be worn down by taxes until you are dependent and helpless. When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both."
James Dale Davidson
"What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin."
Mark Twain
Originally created as a billboard illustration the Connecticut taxpayers was the first illustration where I used a character I called Uncle Conn. Uncle Conn is a younger brother of Uncle Sam and he is proud to have such a powerful older brother. Uncle Conn was born in 1633 in Wethersfield, Connecticut to a family of English Puritans from Massachusetts. He’s been showing a flare for independence from the early childhood and wrote the very first constitution in the English colonies at the tender age of six.
In his youth Uncle Conn occupied himself with agriculture and trade. However, being an assertive young man he quickly realized that manufacturing would be more prosperous and concentrated his efforts in that area. Uncle Conn rapidly became successful in his new venture and his success led to a lot of complaints from his British cousins specializing in the same field. Conn and his brothers eventually grew weary of their older cousins’ oppression and decided to emancipate themselves from their family across the pond.
Although relatively small in size in comparison to his brothers Uncle Conn played an essential role during his family’s war for independence from the British rule. Victorious and newly independent Uncle Conn blossomed into a strong and intelligent young man. He became an inventor unlike any other and over the years came up with a variety of inventions from Frisbee to vulcanized rubber.
Eventually Uncle Conn decided to venture into the insurance business, which proved to be another success story on his long list of accomplishments. Over the past century Uncle Conn had his ups and downs. Currently the people ruled by Uncle Conn are struggling to make the ends meet, except for the ones who work for him. However, Uncle Conn doesn’t see the present situation as anything negative, because the number of his employees is growing. He also collects large amounts of money from the working people to give to the poor people in his state, which makes him feel like a good and caring person.
