Tax me.

I should start off by saying I'm nowhere near the $250.000 mark that may see an increase in taxes. At least 2.5 times less than that bracket. So, I might feel different if I were, but I don't think so. I'm not directing this at anyone personally, so don't be offended at what I'm about to say. It's just my view of things.

O.K., I am not in the "wealthy" bracket, but I consider myself very well off. Sure, there are times when we really have to cut back, sometimes bills are paid late, I'm dropping out of Big Christmas shopping this year, vacations are rare, etc., but my family's needs are met. We have a house. We have health insurance, 2 cars, food on the table. I live in a good neighborhood, my kids go to good public schools. And yes, we pay taxes too. I'm not judging anyone for not wanting to share their wealth. I can be very frugal, a nice word for cheap. I'm not someone who gives money away easily. It gives me anxiety to donate to church, charities, etc. I have to force myself to do it. After I do it's fine, but working up to it while thinking of all the things I can do with it instead can be difficult. Even then, I choose which programs to donate to rather than letting someone else do it. It's a defect of mine & I'm working on it.

So I come to taxes, which could be compared to tithing to a church or donating except it's required. But for some reason taxes don't bother me. Maybe because I don't have to physically hand it over, it's done for me. But, I recognize that it's necessary. I think that people don't realize where taxes go. On the blogs it seems like wealthy people just don't want to support poor people because they're lazy, looking for handouts and entitlements. I won't even get into helping the less fortunate argument here. I just want to make a case for why I think it's good to pay taxes. By paying taxes you're not just supporting the very poorest. There are a lot of people affected. A lot of people who make far less than my family does, who are educated hard workers too. They have chosen to have a career that makes less, this is true, but they are absolutely necessary to our society. Far more than most. And some of those people need food stamps, help with medical bills, and other necessities. Here are the people that earn their salaries through tax dollars. And I should mention that these people are taxed as well.

Military
Teachers
Police
Firefighters
Paramedics- all 911 personell
gov. employees, aka DPS, DOT workers
social workers
Garbage men/ women
Postmen/ women

Things taxes pay for:

War. During WWII people pitched in and made sacrifices. War is more than just soldiers and their families. They make the ultimate sacrifice, but the rest of us need to understand that war isn't free.

Medicare for elderly. My generation (X) as well as the next will have to care for the largest group of elders, the boomers, who not only are many in number but they'll outlive all previous generations. My 94 y/o grandmother is living off of her SS and Medicare and that reduces a major burden on my family. That's just one example; I don't take it for granted. We need to get that taken care of before it's too late.

again, all 911 services
Roads
Waste removal- trash & recycling
Public Schools
Jails
animal control
national parks
disaster relief
Libraries


Well those are some examples that aren't handouts. Those are services we pay for, through our tax dollars. Most of these workers fall into the lower tax brackets, lower than mine, and I think they deserve a bigger break than me. They are doing the work that makes everything run so the rest of us can go pursue our American dreams.

I've been poor, and now I'm doing well. In my experience it costs much more to be poor. You have to make payments for everything instead of buying it outright, and are charged higher interest. If you can get a loan at all. You have bad health insurance that doesn't cover much. Checks bounce and you get snowballing fees. It all starts adding up and get out of control very easily. And this is just the bare minimum, I'm not talking about irresponsible spending. I'm talking about groceries and transportation and an apartment. When I was a paramedic I made $27,000 a year. That was considered good, I worked for a private company. It was 8 yrs ago, but it wasn't a lot then either.

So, if you're making $250.000 a year and get taxed you'll still be well off. For real, it'll be fine. It'll work itself out, prices will adjust to demand. We have a major recession and it wasn't high taxes that got us there. You'll still have money to shop and stuff. Just think of it as supporting your way of life in civilization as opposed to giving it away. Most of it doesn't go to handouts.