A thinking home-schooler’s thoughts…..

So it was asked of us within our little blog-sphere if we were getting bored due to the lack of anything readable on the net lately. As such, The Evolved Homeschoolers website(link to the right) has decided to start the Thinking Homeschoolers Wiki, in which we are asked a thought provoking question once every two weeks.

This week’s question is:
Relative to the services that you receive from government, do you think you pay too much in taxes? Explain.

This could get long. But I’ll give it a shot to fulfill my requirements. I’m going to try to put this in words, because I’ve only ever really expressed it verbally. I probably won’t make any friends with what I am about to say though, so be prepared(but it isn’t like I had any to begin with, so..)..

Relative to the services I receive, do I think I am paying too much in taxes? The short answer is no. The long answer is “I’m not paying enough” with the cavaet that I will explain that. Our taxes supposedly go for all of the services that should allow a human being on this planet to sufficiently survive. However, I don’t think that’s what’s happening and rather than just issue a blanket “raise taxes” statement, I think our entire tax system needs an overhaul.

As it sits now, I don’t think anyone is getting the services they should be receiving for what we are paying however, in our country, not everyone uses those services either, so it balances out. One person might rely on the services of the government more than another, even still one person may never have use for those services in their entire life. Let’s look at the elderly for example. We have a health system in place, a “retirement” system(social security), and a welfare system. However, the health care system is privatized(medicare), often services are more expensive on that system than just paying out of pocket for something; likewise, if they are terminially ill, their healthcare costs RISE above their income, making it harder and harder for them to pay for even the simplest of prescriptions that keep them alive(waiting in line at winn-dixie the other day, ONE script for ONE medication was $350, for this lady). Their “retirement” system is almost non-existent–making 80 yr old people work almost full time just to survive because the system doesn’t give them enough to live on, and the welfare system we have in place that claims to help people like them, has such stringent income requirements that most elderly don’t even qualify for basic food stamps(which would help them survive) or if they do, it’s something measly like $50 a month (NO one can eat and survive on that).

Now let’s look at the rich people. Those whose income allows them to be able to afford such luxuries as food. They’ve got only the best medical insurance out there, they still pay out the wazoo for it, but they get the priviledge of sitting in a plush doctors office with a well-educated doctor. Their medications might still cost the same as the poor elderly, but they can afford it. And then they complain about paying higher in taxes due to their income.

And the middle class people (me), are living paycheck to paycheck, we have private insurance, 3 incomes coming in to the home, don’t live in a home that is beyond our means, shop as frugally as we can, compartmentalize just about every aspect of our lives as we can and we pay around 15% in taxes. For our taxes, while we have the availability of fire, police, and medical, we are just poor enough that we also qualify for state-funded Medicaid for the children (but not us). I sit here typing this with rotting teeth because I cannot afford a dentist, I need another surgery for my bladder, but I can’t afford the co-pay or down payment for it, while my kids get all the medical help they can get. Do not get me wrong, I am thankful that we have this when so many do not.

But here is the rub: NONE of the above scenerios should happen the way they are. For our taxes, ALL people should be getting healthcare, dental care, social security(enough to actually survive on), prescriptions that won’t cause us to choose between eating another day or dying that day, have an income that meets or exceeds what we pay out every month and still be able to feed ourselves and our kids. Yes, I am speaking of Universal Healthcare and a National Tax. I am using France as my model and while I understand that no place is Oz, at least they and places like Canada, have a system in place that is working. I mean really working. For emergency healthcare, you get immediate treatment. I have no problem getting on a waiting list for other services because at least I know then, that my teeth won’t fall out the next time I eat something. I would gladly pay more in taxes, knowing that in 6 months, I’d have a new set of teeth. I should not be counting pennies to pay for a down payment on a needed surgery. I should not be sitting here wondering if the root canal I got 5 years ago is going to last me long enough to get another root canal or even dentures. I shouldn’t be saying to my DH “yes, I am sick, that’s why I’m sleeping on the couch, because we can’t afford to get YOU sick”.

No, instead we need to raise the tax to universal tax that EVERYone pays, raise the income level above what it is and make our cost of living equal to or below what we make in wages. We shouldn’t have 80 yr olds working as grocery baggers because they need to supplement their limited income. We should be taking care of the elderly, of all. Likewise, I also feel that every April 15, I’m getting robbed by our government. The taxes I pay in to every year when I file our forms do NOT go to what is claimed they are to be used for. State funding for teachers, police, fire, and other civil servants, should be mandatory, not optional. And it shouldn’t depend on our taxes either. Instead, we should just know that our taxes ARE going to these services instead of questioning why there is no funding for them and cutting budgets, thusly cutting MUCH NEEDED services. I’d gladly pay 25-30% of my income every year if I knew that it was going where it said. If I knew I’d get the medical help I need. Wipe out privatized insurance, wipe out Medicaid/Medicare, and overhaul Social Security. Make privatized insurance available if someone wants it, but give healthcare to all. Make Social Security equal to the wages of today’s actual rising costs and give these people who raised you a reasonable chance to live and die with their dignity in tact.

Keep in mind I’m not saying we should all live like the rich, I don’t want to see the system taken advantage of anymore than anyone else. But being “rich” is also relative. We live in a very selfish society today, a very “me” driven country. I live in a state that has the highest amount of part-time residents of any where. Six months here, six months there. And the kicker is, they can VOTE in BOTH places. Which means, they come here and vote on things that permanently affect us full time residents, leave when the damage is done and go back home only to do it to those people. That is not fair and should not be allowed. Part-time residents should not be allowed to dictate forum for permanent residents. They are the reason why this entire state now has to kill several thousand teaching, fire, and police jobs because they voted in an Amendment that will save them $100 a year on their property taxes. This should not be acceptable and in any other country, it would not be.

We should have one flat tax for all 50 states. None of this “7% here, 8% there, 5% there, and none here”. No state tax either. ONE single flat tax that covers everything needed to get done. But our government is so corrupt that “by the people, for the people” is a LIE. A bold faced lie. And we are allowing it. Our constitution says paying taxes is purely voluntary, yet you get thrown in prison for not doing so. If you don’t file that measely income, you will get a knock on your door. You will have your very life audited away, just so the government can collect their few bucks on you. I don’t believe in big brother, I’m not too huge a conspiracy theorist; but our government is corrupt and should be removed.

I mean only in America can you file impeachment proceedings on a President who got a blow-job from an ugly intern, while allowing a corrupt, bible thumper to send our men and women in to a war under false pretenses, spend billions of dollars on “weapons” that never existed, send those same men and women home in boxes the next day and call him a “hero”. We also allow immigrants to get anything they want or need in order to survive and live in this country, while denying Natural born citizens basic human rights, we give “politically exiled” immigrants thousands of dollars to start businesses in this nation, but allow our youth to go in to major debt before they turn 21, for a college education; allow our elderly to die in feces infested, abusive nursing homes, but pay our corrupt politicians more than our teachers, fire fighters, and police men; allow those same politicans to pass unconstitutional laws that infringe on a person’s right to their own body, but let major criminals walk free or rot in prison(thus taking more of my tax money than it would to just stick a needle in their damn junkie flunked arm); where we cater and pander to the masses of every type of moron walking, all in the name of “money”, but allow normal folk to have their houses foreclosed on because there are no jobs available.

Yeah, Give Me Your Tired, Hungry, and Poor–but only if they can afford it.

~~Toni