I realize taxes are a necessary evil to pay for a civilized society, and in theory I don't have anything against paying taxes if I think I am getting a good return on my taxes. But when it appears I am subsidizing the rich and the corporations with my taxes and/or my labor, then it just becomes an evil.
I think I got burnt out on paying taxes back in '97 when one of the Senators for the state I was working in released his tax info.
The previous year The Old Lady and I made $15K. The Senator made over $150K. We paid $1500 in federal taxes, give or take a few dollars. The Senator paid around $700 in federal taxes. He made over ten times what we did and paid less than half of what we did in federal taxes. At that rate, I guess millionaires pay no taxes, or so it seems to me. One of the reasons for this disparity is we have never been able to itemize our taxes. We've owned several houses and paid mortgages, but we've never cracked the threshold for itemizing. We've always had to use the standard deduction because we didn't have enough deductions even with mortgage interest and other stuff to itemize.
That same year I got this Dilbert shirt.(The shirt finally wore out last year and became rags.) Well, after that job ended, I put the bastard on a diet!! I did work off and on (more off than on) after that, but I lost all enthusiasm for working to subsidize the rich after that year.
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The FuckingRepublican'ts keep saying the government is redistributing the money from the rich to the poor, when exactly the opposite is true. The rich get huge taxes cuts with a few crumbs for the workers who by and large produce the wealth of this country. Then they add or increase things like sales tax and various fees which are harder on those with a limited income than for the rich. I'm still pissed when Michigan in the early '70s raised the license fees for vehicles and lowered the toll on the Mackinac Bridge from $3.75 each way to $1.50 each way. That made easier for the FuckingTrolls to come up to the U.P. to play, but fucked everyone in the whole state that owned a car or truck. One of my friends at the time said,
"It's like raising the property taxes in the whole state to build a new sewer system for Detroit, because you might be passing through one day and leave a shit in a gas station restroom in Detroit!!"
That same year I got this Dilbert shirt.(The shirt finally wore out last year and became rags.) Well, after that job ended, I put the bastard on a diet!! I did work off and on (more off than on) after that, but I lost all enthusiasm for working to subsidize the rich after that year. 
I read somewhere and now can't find it that USA ranks pretty low in efficient and effective use of government spending. Like below half out of 68 countries or something. Much of that relates to your constitution and lack of real political parties that can be held accountable. Your everyman for himself voting system in Congress and Senate means each Rep is elected based on the amount of pork barreling they have done for their constituency or their campaign funders.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Americans hate paying taxes. They get nothing for them except military adventures. Shades of European monarchies of centuries gone by.
The Social Democratic programs of Europe were developed to give the taxpayer something back for their money and to reduce if not eliminate war. They have been very successful.
If paying your taxes while others don't pisses you off, then read this if you really want to blow a gasket.
ReplyDeleteBig Business Sucks
Pulled from this blog
Major Conflict
read the comments also if you want to get even angrier
face it ..we're fucked.
ReplyDelete