Paying my Taxes

This is tax day. I knew I wanted to submit something on this most hated of all days. But as I began to formulate some different thoughts on taxes, I found myself unable to come up with a single theme to describe my feelings on the subject. You see, I'm generally not one to grumble and groan about taxes. I see the government as having a very real and important function. Therefore, I have always reasoned that paying taxes is the way we ensure that needed services are there for me, and there for those who have not had my advantages in life. It is the price we pay for living in this country, with all its greatness. Fundamentally I believe that America has some great qualities, and that being a citizen here offers some wonderful opportunities. But I'm not blind to the entrenched problems with this country either. I'm not one who believes America is the best it can be; so I'm not a "love it or leave it" kind of guy. And, that's what leads me to some conflicts on the tax issue.

At the risk of rambling incoherently, I will try to sort out the conflict by talking about some items I like about taxes, and some items that just plain piss me off. I start with the premise that just about everybody wants to hang on to their money. It's not just taxes either- I hate paying for insurance, and gasoline, and food, and my garbage collection and water, and satellite TV, and electricity, and everything. But I pay for those things because I get something for it. Truthfully, I know I get something for the taxes I pay too. Only a mindless fool would argue that we don't get anything for our taxes. On every level of government we get something. We get national defence. We get an interstate highway system. We get safer products in every commodity we buy. We get regulations that protect our money (usually) in banking systems. We get currency that you can use anywhere. We get courts and systems of justice. We get care for our veterans. We get help to attend college. Our seniors get the dignity of social security so they don't die in poverty as they once did; and they get health care. Our farmers get supports to offset the price of food. Government protects our lives and property with police and fire departments. We get safe modes of transportation. We have clean water. Our kids go to schools. The list is practically endless, but I think you get the point.

Most of us take these things for granted. But I often think about what I would pay for these things if I had to buy them myself. Just for fun I called a local private high school- the biggest one in town. I learned that the tuition for one child to attend for one year of high school is over $9800.00. (my property taxes don't come close to that amount) I see the value of a government that spreads the burden. I wonder what we would say if each of us had to pay-as-we-go to build roads, sewage treatment plants, dams or parks. I would hate to have to personally pay someone to ensure my meat and vegetables were safe to eat. But let the government fail to maintain those things and somebody gets hurt- we will sue there ass but good.

In spite of what the tea party says, we are paying the lowest tax rates in many years. I used to pay around 18% federal tax rate. This year my tax rate is 14%. But everybody hates to pay. I hope we can ignore the feelings for a minute and really think about why we hate to pay taxes. Over the years we have been indoctrinated to hate "Big Government". I think that might be a misplaced hatred. Of course government is bigger- the country is bigger. There are 60 million more us than twenty years ago- dah! We have been growing at about 9.6 % every ten years. So let's get off the "big government" jag and talk about what really bugs us. It's BAD Government. Big is not necessarily bad- but bad is really terrible.

This brings me to the part of taxes that angers me. I hate that our tax code is so unfair. Big corporations have a high tax rate- but it doesn't matter because they don't pay it! Do some research on this and you'll find the biggest companies with the most profits actually get big refunds. They don't pay taxes! Rich people have had enormous tax gifts in the last ten years.The difference between them and us- we don't have lobbyists convincing congress to give us tax breaks. There are 35,000 lobbyists in Washington D.C. Those lobbyists are getting what they pay for. That's Bad Government!

I hate that so much of our budget goes to the military. We are in two useless, futile, and expensive wars that only serve corporate interests. Do we really believe we're fighting these wars to keep Iraq and Afghanistan from conquering us? The U.S. spends as much on its military as the rest of the world combined! And half the rest of the world are our allies. This isn't about defending America's freedom- it's highly evolved corporate welfare. That money could be used in so many better ways. That's Bad Government!

I hate that our government has lost it's way. It no longer serves the people. It serves the rich. There is no more statesmanship- only ideologues who will say anything. A Senator will lie on the floor of the Senate- then say his lie "wasn't intended to be factual".The idea of a loyal opposition has given way to those who say "if don't agree with me-you're not a good American". Then wasteful, fruitless political bickering degrades us all.  That's Bad Government!

Unfortunately the "bad government" list could go on and on too. But we don't get to have everything the way we want it to be. There is good and bad in all of this. The Different Thought here is that we do get a great deal for our tax payments. Even the parts of government that are bad do not outweigh the fact that we are one people, and we must all work and pay taxes to ensure the general welfare, as our constitution directs us. Thanks for looking in.