The problem(s)

"Rather than have a simple fair tax or flat tax that I could finish in a New York minute, this is going to take up a chunk of my time next week." 

I have been in a funk today, and it has nothing to do with the weather. I feel defeated. It has everything to do with April 15th or whatever date tax day is looming close. I have already done a dry run on our taxes and it ain't good. But that is not why I am penning this post this afternoon. I know many have a bad tax situation this year, so I think the main culprit has once again shown its ugly face. In other words, it is problem number one.

This morning my wife had to go over to a tax preparer to have a relative's trust tax statement filed. I would do our taxes, the kids taxes, and my Mother's taxes, most every year. But this trust thing was way above my pay grade. She went over to the tax preparer loaded up with enough documentation to choke a horse. This was all the stuff the tax preparer told her to bring. After an hour, she came home. It was over and filed. For a very small amount of taxes owed, she had to pay this preparer $660. All because we have allowed our tax code to become more complicated than quantum physics.

Then she hit me with the hammer. We have to use a new form on our taxes this year as this trust also affects us. So not only do I have to pay in a zillion dollars because of this [censored] Social Security and military retirement issue, because of this trust nonsense, it might be more complicated than I can handle. Rather than have a simple fair tax or flat tax that I could finish in a New York minute, this is going to take up a chunk of my time next week. 

Now for problem # 2, which is a much larger problem. If we had a Ted Cruz type flat tax and a South Dakota type state tax (that be zero), my wife and I would be planning our next cruise instead of bleeding red ink right now. For many, we need to feed the beast one more time. And for what? As much as we feed the beast, it is never enough. The appetite is insatiable. No, the federal debt just continues to grow. And our state spending is so out of control, people are starting to leave in waves.

As with many, paying this huge tax penalty at the end of the year is painful. However, the infuriating part is this - it does not matter one whit if the state and/or federal receives our money or not. The juggernaut just continues to roll. Spending continues, and new avenues are constantly discovered for money to flow into. For example, we are now thinking about bailing out Puerto Rico for over their years of spending. Plus, we are thinking about sending a billion or so down to Kenya. And why not? It is only money we do not have.

It pains me to see our great country come to this. It pains me to see our state come to this. This is not what I spent 21 years in the Navy protecting. I protected our freedoms, not our slavery to overspending and debt. 

We are leaving Minnesota, sooner rather than later. There is no hope unless there is a sea change of the way we think. And as far as our country is concerned, if Hillary is our next President, Costa Rica might be our new home. I once thought Canada might be our life raft, but they now have the same problem as we do. We are, we have, become the new Euro Zone.