I've stopped my head from spinning right off my shoulders for the first time in like two weeks just long enough to say...WTF? Since when is paying your taxes a bad thing?!
Taxes Pay For:
*Public Education (including after school programs, sports, extra curriculars)
*Police, Fire Department, Hospitals, Ambulances (any type of emergency response team)
*Garbage Removal Service
*Water Treatment
*Energy (aka keeping your power on)
*Road Repairs, Street Cleaning, Snow/Ice Removal
*Crime Prevention Programs
*Parks and Recreation Programs (including little leagues, public pools, ice skating rinks)
*Public Transportation (including buses, light rails, metros, subways)
*Social Programs (including Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault helplines, counseling, and safe housing)
and much much more!
Taxes are based on the idea of "ability to pay," we can't all just pay full price for what we use because no one person on their own could afford all the things that they use on a daily basis. Examples of this are things that are free or provided at a low cost like school, waste management, or turning on your television. Then there are things that not everyone uses, but everyone pays for with the idea that everyone uses something and helping to pay for these programs makes our communities cleaner, safer, more welcoming, and easy to live in. These are programs like little leagues, buses, jails, ambulances, food stamps, and park programs (like watching fireworks on the 4th of July).
I know it's popular to for some reason hate people who are on welfare (y'know because they clearly don't have enough problems). Certain citizens want to know why they have to pay for someone else's misfortune, and my answer to that is why do I have to pay for your damn ambulance when you fall off your ladder cleaning your gutters? I don't have gutters, and if I did, I wouldn't fall off of them like a clumsy effing idiot, so I don't want to pay for the ambulance that will come pick you up and safe your life because it's not my problem. Sounds heartless doesn't it? Yes, of course I'll pay for your ambulance, and your welfare, and your drug rehabilitation! I'll pay for you to get a free education just like I did. I will pay for you to get better, because someday I'll need you to pay for my pension. I owe you a nice public transit system because when I was little you paid for me to play softball for 6 years, and I got to ice skate in a public rink that was safe, beautiful and fun because you helped keep it that way.
Look, taxation and redistribution of the wealth is a main principal of democracy. Remember democracy? What we needed to fight a never ending war for in the Middle East? A principal that the GOP likes to wave around desperately while pointing fingers at the democrats like we're about to make it on the McCarthy blacklist.
Under and Obama/Biden administration, no one will be paying more taxes unless they are making over $200,000 - if you're making that much do you really think you can't afford to pay some extra taxes to make your community a better place for all to live in? Don't you want to be safe and happy? So does everyone else.
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4 years ago
4 comments:
Agreed!
The republicans act as if progressive taxation is some kind of crazy "socialist" idea. I guess that radical socialist Eisenhower must have driven them nuts, since taxes on the wealthy were almost twice what they are today in the 50's...right?
I love the idea of ambulances and public parks and water treatment, believe me. A lack of public parks and less government funding for schools = less work for Eva. Hell I even like the IDEA of universal health care.
But I think it's unfair to say that simply because you earn more money you have a disproportionate financial duty to your neighbors. Don't forget people who make more than $200,000 a year, while they could in theory give more money to social programs, they can also afford to get around paying taxes.
I agree with you. When I was filling out tax forms for my most recent job, a supervisor urged me to, "Give as little money as possible to the government." I told him that I have a totally different value system, and that I enjoy paying taxes. By his facial expressions, I thought he was going to be in a permanent state of shock.
Additionally, many wealthy people have privilege which has allowed them to get high-paying CEO, medical, or law positions (prep schools, parents who've paid for college tuition, etc). We also need to give up some privilege if we expect to have an equal society--whether that's by paying taxes or recognizing that affirmative action is still needed.
I'm glad you're writing about this issue, since it's such a centerpiece to this election.
You go, girl! I am ALWAYS amazed when people complain about taxes. Do they think everything comes to them from the gift fairy? Oddly, some of the very people who complain about taxes taxes taxes (Republicans) are the very same who support our stupid stupid stupid involvement in Iraq. Do they have any idea of what THAT little party costs them EVERY day? Then again, we live in " 'merica" where people have the right to be ignorant idiots.
Write on!
Momcat
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