Some good stuff

[amethyst73]

I had a voice lesson today!  We stayed completely on topic, were very technical, and got some good work done.  Yay, makes me happy.  :)

I was able to listen to some of Obama's address to the joint Congress this evening on my way home.  And I came up with an idea when he started talking about tax cuts for bunches of people. 

I don't know whether the huz and I are going to end up qualifying for a tax cut.  I do know we don't make enough to qualify for a tax hike!  But I've told various friends on various occassions that gee, I like my government services: education, roads, police & fire, etc, and if it becomes necessary to increase my taxes to pay for these things, please go right ahead!  Yes, that's right: tax me! 

We happen to be very fortunate, financially speaking; we have quite sufficient to pay our mortgage, and no ongoing large expenses (e.g. kids).  I am fully aware that a lot of people will greatly appreciate (and in some cases, rather desperately need) any tax cuts they get; that's fine, that's who the tax cuts should be helping.  I also know that there are likely to be cuts everywhere  at city, state, and federal levels to try to start balancing budgets. 

So here's my idea.  If by some mischance we end up with an income tax break, we'll tote up what would otherwise be given to the tax man and donate it someplace useful, such as the education foundation for the city we live in (it helps fund music and science programs and stuff like that), or the library foundation, or some other civic-related thing that we know could use the extra money.  (We already donate to these programs already and will continue to do so even if we don't get a tax cut, don't get me wrong!)

I honestly don't have time to do community service as President Obama would much like me to.  But I do have the wherewithal to help pay the people who help run those services.

Comments

"I like taxes. With them I buy civilization."

[hoshikage.livejournal.com]

Mark and I have had long discussions about the value of taxes. Mostly because I'm frequently puzzled by the attitude of some people I've spoken to, who gripe constantly about government and the only remotely concrete answer I can ever get out of them as to why basically boils down to, "Well I don't want to pay taxes." Meanwhile we are quite content to pay taxes. We know our taxes go to useful and productive things that really, we'd be very unhappy without. We even voted for a couple of things in this past election that would raise our taxes a bit, because we thought the end result would be worthwhile. (Huh, all this reminds me, I should really start playing the state lottery. Not because I actually expect to win anything, but the money the state gets from it goes to education around here and I support this concept...)

[meepodeekin.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. I don't think I understand my own tax bill well enough to tell whether I've gotten an unexpected tax cut...but a certain percent of every dollar that ends up in our pocket goes to charity. Especially with the economy as it is, if we are lucky enough to keep two good jobs, we will keep on doing our best to give back (and support taxes politically).

[karakara98.livejournal.com]

That's a highly commendable plan!