I get it, trust me, I get it.
I waited in line this morning to mail in my taxes. I owe money to the Federal government, to the State of Illinois and to the State of Minnesota. I “caught a break” in not owing more money to the District of Columbia, but I still had to shell out an additional $30 to find that out. So I get it.
I wasn’t procrastinating. I knew I was going to owe money. I sat down in February and did a quick double check, confirmed I was going to owe money and decided to wait. Why pay just now? See in February I had just lost my full-time job. See, I get it.
This isn’t about making you feel sorry for me. I knew it was coming. I left my full-time job back in July to work on the Presidential Campaign in Minnesota. Once November came I was out of a job. Then I caught a break, ended up in DC working on the Inauguration. Of course that just delayed the inevitable. I should have done my taxes right then a there, paid them while I still had a little wiggle room. Now I’m worrying about pulling in as many consulting hours I can, working on my own, knowing that the money I’m making is already spoken for. See, I get it.
I get the worry, I get the stress. I get the frustration. I get that we feel over burdened. That at times it seems, as individuals and as a nation, we have too many obligations. Trust me, I get it.
But I also get that it is not just about me. That I had have my say. That I voted and that a $13 Trillion economy doesn’t turn on a dime. That change is not immediate.
What I don’t get is this:
Funny that the most highly taxed economies are the weakest. The Channel Islands, particularly Guernsey, have had to lower their taxes because the revenue (taxes) exceeded their requirements. Funny, but by lowering the “rate” they actually raised more money. The Laffer Curve is correct and Adam Smith is still right. The “Invisible Hand” is still there directing the marketplace. Socialism may work, but it will only work (in an Acts 2 sense)in Heaven.
And yet in the FY2008 Federal budget, a George W. Bush budget, 21% goes to Social Security, 20% to Medicare and Medicade and 11% to other social programs….[1]
And the U.S. does not rate as the highest taxed country (Denmark does, or did at 68%) or the weakest economy (2008 Estimated GDP $13-$14 Trillion, highest in the world)