The Tax Man Cometh

Statement

So, how did you do this year? I hope you know that this is the time of year you need to square away your taxes with the federal and state government. Were you forced to give more? Did you get any change back? Hopefully you didn't get hit with an Obamacare penalty because it costed less than buying health insurance. You need to be careful not to work too much, get bumped into the next tax bracket, and actually take home LESS money. All things we need to consider.

If you haven't gathered, I'm no fan of taxes. No one really is. I'm not alone in that either. Some of our presidents have given the most concise words on their disdain for taxes. The often overlooked Calvin Coolidge said "Taxes take from everyone a part of his earnings and force everyone to work for a certain part of his time for the government." More famously, Ronald Reagan said "The American people are not undertaxed, the government in Washington is overfed." Who could forget this other Reagan quote? "Every dollar released from taxation that is spared or invested will help create a new job and a new salary." Oh, I'm sorry. That wasn't Reagan, it was Democratic president John F. Kennedy.

I like the way these people sound. Today a lot of people seem to think we need to raise taxes as high as we can and let the government take care of everything. Veteran Affairs is atrocious in the way we've treated our service members. Obamacare has made health insurance more expensive, not less. Why would we want more of that? I'd prefer to control as much of my money as possible. Not just in healthcare, but in as much of my life as possible.

Government takes money from you. They do not ask for it. It is not voluntary, but we need some amount of government. We need some taxes, although we'll argue about how much is enough. I believe our elected officials have an obligation to take as little money from us as possible and spend it as wisely as possible. Our leaders of the past understood that and we should demand it from the leaders of today.

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