tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post2483961354812013767..comments2023-11-30T03:44:34.585-05:00Comments on Opinions Nobody Asked For: Your Tax Day ThoughtsJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11683622475941901572noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-9152723842353813262008-04-20T17:26:00.000-04:002008-04-20T17:26:00.000-04:00I don't think any of us have a problem with paying...I don't think any of us have a problem with paying taxes in principle. Well, maybe Ron Paul, but he's an idiot. <BR/><BR/>I think the argument is what my taxes go towards. I don't mind taxes for a standing militia (a.k.a. the Armed Forces) so I can sleep better at night. I don't mind taxes for roads because frankly, I can't work a paver. But if you're using my taxes for sequencing the genome of a soy bean, no thanks. If my taxes pay for a new flower park in Murtha's hometown, no thanks. If my taxes go to farming subsidies, nope. If they go to funding <B>illegal</B> (note that first word) alien anything, no way. And socialized medicine, don't get me started.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792534156762012371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-91502705006338801412008-04-15T22:25:00.000-04:002008-04-15T22:25:00.000-04:00Dave's comment brings up what I think the most imp...Dave's comment brings up what I think the most important tax reform would be: eliminating withholding. It turns tax day into lottery day, with many people happier to find out they're getting money back rather than being pissed at how much they've been paying all year.<BR/><BR/>Scheduling quarterly tax payments would allow people to plan accordingly instead of facing a huge tax bill annually, while still making them fully aware of how much they're paying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-68695145214361414622008-04-15T20:37:00.000-04:002008-04-15T20:37:00.000-04:00I owed about $67.00 after all was said and done, a...I owed about $67.00 after all was said and done, and I don't actually mind paying so much. Of course, if it weren't for paycheck withholdings, that figure grows about 90 times over (being a single childless apartment-renter means the deduction-fairy doesn't smile much on me), but I manage just fine.<BR/><BR/>"...illegals pay billions in payroll taxes that they'll never recoup in Social Security benefits." I used to think this. Until I heard several Democrats float proposals to change this "injustice" during the latest round of debates on the subject. That made me worry that our current good fortune may soon turn into a much larger liability.<BR/><BR/>That worries me, because the programs - Medicare in particular - are already in dire financial straits. Flipping one of the things keeping us solvent into a larger liability (assuming that the illegal immigrant demographic is likely to be on the net-payee side of the programs instead of the net-payor side) would be bad, but it would sound (and, in at least one sense, be) fair.-Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16998205576045100941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-29639405609695606572008-04-15T17:15:00.000-04:002008-04-15T17:15:00.000-04:00As much as I like to advocate, with tongue tentati...As much as I like to advocate, with tongue tentatively planted in cheek, the abolition of the income tax, I too mostly fall into the "I don't mind paying taxes that much" camp.<BR/><BR/>My essential problem with taxation is twofold: first, I believe we surrender too great a percentage of our annual incomes (a little fiscal responsibility could go a long way). Second, certain people (like me) have the misfortune of never seeming to vote for the winning candidate in any national election, and therefore essentially no say in how our money gets spent. I often wonder how feasible it would be to remedy this latter point by allowing each individual to designate what their taxes go toward; in broad categories, of course, not things like "please put $2.50 of my tax money toward the White House water bill." The DOD would love me in this case. Of course, this would make doing one's taxes even more annoying than it already is, so yeah, maybe not so much.<BR/><BR/>Ben, tell Christy I feel her pain about having had too little withheld.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06383789548221247888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-76641978582527090922008-04-15T15:04:00.000-04:002008-04-15T15:04:00.000-04:00I've always kind of considered paying my taxes to ...I've always kind of considered paying my taxes to be part of my civic duty, like voting or jury duty.<BR/><BR/>Libertarians of the world can rejoice that my wife resents paying taxes a bit more than I do....or at least she doesn't like discovering that we had too little witheld from our paychecks and needed to pay more.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15344649128973165027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-66062614477600220762008-04-15T14:59:00.000-04:002008-04-15T14:59:00.000-04:00Your thoughts on taxes not being particularly pain...Your thoughts on taxes not being particularly painful mirror my own. I like to joke that my theory of good government is "tax and spend." So yeah, taxes don't bother me too much.<BR/><BR/>As for the illegal immigrants: what services are state governments providing for them?Matthew B. Novakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00441950586412209361noreply@blogger.com