"I am sorry - the tax money is all gone as I have spent it. May I please have some more?"
Got you with the headline, didn't I? Some might think I have taken a long walk off a short pier. No, those words are true - true to the people who utter them. Don't worry - they are not my words. They are the words of the statists, the people who love the government machine. The ones who love to keep feeding the pig.
I have long signed on to the notion the worst thing this country ever did to taxpayers was enact tax withholding in 1943. That really was a masterful piece of serendipity perpetrated by the government. Gone went the transparency on how much we send to the federal and state governments. Every payday you would receive a check for something considerably less than the salary you earned.
People who pay property taxes which are not escrowed have the right idea. Twice a year you break out your checkbook and write out a big check to the county. Just for the privilege of living on your property. For most people I know, that twice a year check writing is anything but pleasant. Just imagine if at the end of every month we had to write checks to both the federal and state governments for taxes due. Pitchforks and torches would be seen everywhere.
In the paper today was an article about all the selfish people who want the surplus returned to the taxpayers. People like military vets who earn a pension. People like senior citizens who have paid in taxes all their working lives. If we allowed seniors and vets not to be taxed on their pensions and Social Security (gasp!), we could not afford it! After all, taxes travel down a one-way street. Once the statists in Washington or St. Paul get ahold of your money, well, good luck in getting any back. Remember - there is an "unaffordability" associated with tax cuts.
When I walk around the yard, or inside the house, I could come up with tens of thousands of dollars for improvements. Some major, some minor. However if I did that, we would be stone cold broke. No money for travel, no nest egg, no nothing.
Right now the Governor and the DFL are starting to imagine how to spend all $2B of the surplus. Using my analogy, they are walking around the yard and looking inside of the house for things to spend money on. Remember, the money has traveled down a one-way street. Even though it is OUR MONEY, we have resorted to almost begging to get some or all of it back!
Just in case you think this article is slanted - it is. I am a retired vet getting a pension and am also receiving Social Security. Like many other seniors, I am getting nailed by the state this year for taxes. I am paying in at year's end much more than I ever did while working. If we don't fix this, my kids, my grandkids, will have the same problem. That is, should they decide to live and retire in this tax heavy state.
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