Death and Taxes musings and angst from a member of the Middle-Class

The old adage, "you can be certain of two things in this world, death and taxes", seems to really hit home this year. Granted I learned growing up on a farm that death is of course part of the circle of life, it usually comes suddenly and without regard to what you have accomplished, finished or in the process of doing. But now I am finally certain that taxes are just as much a part of the life-aquatic as death. (Photo compliments of Common Place Book)

I just had my taxes done last week and now I feel the pinch of being finally considered "Middle-Class". As a single person claiming one, and a raise last year that put my head just above the water-line of the next tax bracket, I will be sending a check to the IRS for the first time in my life. I know, bummer-join the club-think about what really wealthy have to pay. (Hmmm, bad idea, especially considering all of the "tax-shelters" and capital losses wealthy people can take advantage of that I don't have access to and when we crunch the numbers/percentages, I guarantee-I along with a majority of other Americans pay more!)

The interesting thing is that I am not living high on the hog from my day job and the paltry amount made from the advertisements on this blog (roughly $40 since last March) definitely doesn't require a wheelbarrow to carry to the bank. Factor in student loans, rents, car insurance, gas, Utes and (What is that extravagant thing I do each day called?) that's right, eating and I find myself behind the proverbial "8-ball".

This brings me to my main concern: why are we so hesitant to make the uber-rich pay their share? Is it because of the Horatio Alger Jr ideal behind the American Dream-that we can all pull ourselves up by our boot-straps and become very wealthy? With all of the political-double-speak about cutting taxes for the wealthy and helping the poor, the one group of people being forgotten are the "Middle-Class" and frankly folks, we are getting the short end of the stick.

Cha-Ching or not to Cha-Ching that is the question...
President Bush has these "unique" plans to balance the budget within the next 4-years, by cutting Medicare, (crucial) government programs and cutting taxes for the uber-wealthy, all while waging a War on Terror. Now let's think about this for a minute, we have billions of dollars going out the door in tax-cuts and money used (and abused) to fight the WOT, but less money coming in-we are definitely going to bounce a couple of checks-would you even let this guy (President Bush) balance your checkbook? Hell no! But the party doesn't stop there, as the deficit rises and the value of the dollar decreases, interest rates go up-meaning you pay more for your homes, cars and for such variable-rated loans such as Stafford Student Loans. Answer me this, what ever happened to our Daddy's Republicans? I am referring to the Pre-Reagan, fiscal-conservatives who approached policy and spending pragmatically and didn't dip into the troughs of Education and Social Security to help line the pockets of their friends' and donors' pockets with gold. It took us twenty-years to pay off the tab left by Reaganomics; I think that our grandchildren will be paying off the tab left by Dubya's legacy (Iraq and tax-cuts).

And the nail in the coffin is the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) a tax from the 1960's used to catch those making $100,000 plus (a lot of money back then) is instead of being repealed or altered to catch those making a million dollars or more, is going to catch 3.5 million HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet) this tax-year (2006) and approximately 23 million Americans (HENRYs) in 2008. How does that translate dollar per dollar, well if you make between $70,000 and $100,000, you will pay upwards of $5,000 more in taxes once the AMT gets you.

It's not just the Republicans
Democrats have really turned a deaf ear to their constituencies as well. With all of the big talk on the Hill about the War and Oversight of the wasteful spending of a two-year study of the spending in Iraq, the AMT and the tax-oppression of the "Middle-Class" is sitting on the back burner right next to the green beans. Granted the Minimum Wage increase was both necessary and accomplished quickly, but sadly, this too came with a Faustian-deal to cut taxes for the wealthy in this country.

Presidential candidate John Edwards preaches about "two-Americas" all while taking advantage of the aforementioned tax-breaks for the "upper-crust" and while building a multi-million dollar estate on a substantial piece of property. Now, I am not knocking him for having earned his money and enjoying the fruits of his labor, but what did Senator Edwards do for the "Middle-Class" and the "Working-Poor" while in office? I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with "zilch" or "goose-egg". Fine, it doesn't rhyme with those two words it is those two words.

Empty promises and rhetoric obviously gets you votes in this country, but I think it is well past time to hold our politicians to their promises. It is time we Americans who actually have to adhere to a budget, work and don't live off the backs of those who do (politicians) make it known to our elected leaders that our patience is wearing thin. The workers and Middle-Class Americans have the biggest stake in what is going on in Washington right now, not the elected millionaire megalomaniacs making the decisions from a top a snowy hill-they stand the most to lose by listening, but they stand even more to lose (their jobs) by not listening.