"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Supreme Court Justice who was nominated by Theodore Roosevelt and served frojm 1902-32. This quote is on the IRS building in Washington, DC. Yesterday was April 15th, normally tax day but it was Sunday so most of America has until the 17th — apparently the storm this weekend was so severe that many people will have until April 19th. They said on the news that the IRS is considering giving people a few extra days to get the tax forms in — if you were impacted by the storm, keep an eye out for news on this.
We've all heard the quote, "Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes," attributed to Benjamin Franklin, which was news to me.
Where do our taxes go? There are a number of places you can go to see how your federal taxes are spent. I found this site, "Death and taxes: a visual guide to your federal taxes." From the site:
“Death and Taxes” is a representational poster of the federal discretionary budget; the amount of money that is spent at the discretion of your elected representatives in Congress. Basically, your federal income taxes. The data is from the President's budget request for 2008. It will be debated, amended, and approved by Congress by October 1st to begin the fiscal year. The poster provide a uniquely revelaing look at our national priorities, that fluctuate yearly, according to the wishes of the President, the power of Congres, and the will of the people. If you pay taxes, then you have paid for a small part of everything in the poster.
The author wrote this about himself:
"Jess Bachman, that’s me. I am a resident of Burlington, Vermont and freelance graphic designer. In addition to combing through federal budget documents I can be found DJing, drinking tea, making concert posters, blogging, and dressing like Robert Redford from Three Days of the Condor. I am 26 years old."
I do not know anything about this person but thought it was an interesting site and idea but I don't know what his ideology is or what his background or party affiliation, or even how accurate this. As someone interested in politics, the budget itself bores me to tears so I appreciate anyone who can wade through it and come up with something so interesting.
You can see the actual budget in several places:
- The White House version can be found at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) site.
- The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has a version.
- And Wikipedia has an entry.
As a godless, tax-loving liberal, I know we need them to keep our society the way we like it. They make sure we have military, roads, a good education system and the list goes on. It is easy to forget how important our infrastructure is because when it is doing its job well, it is invisible. The best way I have found to describe it as being similar to a fish tank or well maintained eco-system, it provides everything needed to keep everything in there alive and healthy. We have a stable government, except for the last six years where my cat could have done a better job and my cat thinks rocks are food, that allows us to have a stable economy and the rest.
One of my favorite people once told me that he votes for Republicans because he wants to pay fewer taxes. The irony of that statement, which seems to have been lost on him unless that was just his dry humor and I do not know him enough to tell the difference but given his tax bracket, he benefits far more from the taxes he pays than many. If anarchy broke out tomorrow, my house is not going to be looted. Again, my cat is one my most valuable possessions and he was born in an alley and still thinks rocks are food. He is not alone in this view. Taxes and tax day are things people dread. A Congressperson told the New Yorker sometime during the administration that President Clinton had “ruined democracy because he showed people that they can get something in return for their taxes.”
While democracy remains intact, well aside from the Bush v. Gore debacle but that’s for another post, there is evidence that many people around the world pay much higher taxed and don’t mind. This is because they get things like health care. The countries with the highest standard of living tend to be in Scandinavia. They also pay the highest taxes in the world but they receive great services for them. My roommate in (spent my senior year in ) was from . She had no concept of charitable organizations and did not understand why we need them, why the richest country on the planet could not provide basic services to its people. In , she told me, the government takes care of such things. We could learn a lot from her.
So when you send off your returns, whether you will get a check or send one in, remember that you pay less taxes than the rest of the civilized world but that you get far fewer services. Having said that, the next time you call 911 (ok, that’s a local tax), drive on an interstate highway, go to a public park or do some mundane thing like work in a safe place, drink decent water (exception: Washington, DC – full of lead) and send your child off to school rather than some horrific job remember your taxes make all that possible.
Oh, and if you voted for Dubya (and other GOP candidates), you get the added bonus of knowing you have turned governing into campaigning by politicizing what were supposed to be neutral jobs, started an illegal war (really wish that ‘you broke it, you bought it’ rule applied ONLY to the people to actually broke Iraq and wanted us in there), dang, there are just too many bad things your decision has caused us to do. We are hated by most of the planet. All the White House scandals hurt politicians of all stripes – does anyone believe Karl Rove lost email or that Dick Cheney didn’t know what he was doing when he told Scooter Libby to out a covert CIA agent? Most of you have some money so I know you are not stupid, did you really think Saddam Hussein planned 9/11? Your tax dollars and vote did all of that.
Sorry I went off the deep end a little. I do that a lot.
AlysonChadwick.com 