Tax Time
Good thing I went and had a really great ride on Pi this morning, because the afternoon was pure hell. It’s tax time. I’m a victim of the Alternative Minimum Tax. That scumbag Cheney pays far less in income tax as a percentage of his income than I do. Yeah, the Bush tax cuts have been great for me. So, I spent the afternoon with my stock broker selling funds and robbing Peter to pay Paul in terms of funding my IRA.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a republican. I don’t mind paying taxes because a.) it means I’m making money. And b.) it’s what a moral society does to try and care for the less fortunate in that society. Of course right now my taxes are going to fund a disasterous and probably illegal war in Iraq and to make sure that the fabulously wealthy don’t have to pay their fair share. I would pay more if I was getting something for it — like health insurance, but it feels like I’m pouring my hard earned money down a rat hole.
The downside to life intruding is that it has kept me from writing today and I _like_ to write. Perhaps tomorrow will be better. I’ll get to bracket actually mailing the checks with riding and writing. Yes, tomorrow will be a better day.
Melinda
April 17th, 2007 at 6:44 am
Actually, a *really* moral society would just help the less fortunate directly, without the gross waste and fraud. But it’s better than nothing. I just mentally write it off as a small price to pay for living in one of the most free and secure countries on the planet.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:28 am
I agree, Preston, I wish our very frayed safety net would get repaired. There’s been a really pernicious swing in attitudes in this country over the past twenty-five or so years. First we had the Regan statements that government was the problem — tell that to our grandparents with there social security and medicare, or victims of a catastrophe when FEMA used to work before Bush broke it. And now we have this kind of capitalist Christianity being pushed in some of the mega churchs. The idea that your economic situation is an indication of how pious you are and how much god loves you, and those less fortunate are somehow “sinful”. It excuses people from caring or helping.
I went to school in Austria, and I’ve traveled a lot though only in the first world, and I do love this country. I just want America and her citizens to be better than this — braver, kinder, stronger and more thoughtful.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I think we all wish that, Melinda. I think many charities would describe a long, slow decline in donations over the decades. We’ve forgotten how to give–of our money and of ourselves. Instead we’ve become taxpayers, pushing the burden of responsibility and caring off on a third party.
Here’s hoping for that better America.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:54 am
The bastards got us for an extra four grand, and I wasn’t even working half the year!