Thanks to George...

[DrDan]

We'll all have another $300 in our pockets later this summer and much more to come. Looks like the Dem's diluted his original Tax Cut Bill a little, but at least some of our money will stay home where it belongs. It's a start!

Dr Dan

 

[ejb]

...and for all those that vote for Algore they should donate their refunds to a republican...after all, they didnt want a tax cut anyway...

 

[Branch]

Oh but it sounds so warm and compassionate to say you don't want your overpayment returned. They say the same thing when they go to the grocery store and get overcharged. NOT!

Branch

 

[hess]

If you make over $1.1 million per year - you get back almost $20,000 this year.
If you make less than $20,000 per year - you get back almost $65.
So this is being a compassionate conservative?
And don't talk to me about being fair - it only helps those who don't need the help

 

[DrDan]

Yes I'd like to see those with an income of less than $50K pay no taxes. Hell they need "all" their money just to get by (and buy diesel), but like I say it's a start. $300 is a heck of alot more than I ever got back when clinton was in. The Dems will whine about that $300 for years.

Dr Dan

 

[cowboydoc]

Hess,
I have a real problem with this type of thinking. Why because someone goes and busts their butt giving up other things to be successful are they penalized? Why should the person that made it have to pay for the person that sits around on their butt and never did anything? Why does the person that works 16 hours a day have to pay more of a percentage in taxes than the person that works 8 hours a day? Why is the person that spends four to ten years of their life getting a college education and foregoing a family, money, etc. penalized because they paid the price and now are making a good living? Your logic baffles me that someone who pays more shouldn't get more of their money back. I built everything that I have with my own two hands and got through college on a sports scholarship and loans from my grandparents which I payed back with interest. Noone helped me one single bit in my life. Why should I have to pay the way for someone else? Or why should I have to pay a higher percentage of my income just because I made good for myself? And when I do pay a higher percent and amount why am I not entitled to more of that money back? The only one that it doesn't seem fair to is the guy who does pay more in taxes.

 

[Branch]

I could not agree with you more Richard. My brother and sister in-law started a business that for the first 2-3 years required them to work 7 days a week, every week, every holiday, for a minimum of 18 hours a day. Everyone thought they were crazy. Now people are jealous they have too much. What they did is still available to anyone who'd like to put out the same effort. Surprisingly there aren't many takers. It's easier to ***** then work. They pay incredible taxes but the governement will do less for them then it will do for someone who won't work. They now employ quite a few people, they are helping the economy, but they're looked at by those who make less as a drain on society. They're the bad people because they have too much. That sentiment is a little too Socialistic for me.

Branch

 

[hess]

Richard,
I have always enjoyed reading your posts because I trust what you say is true. I believe that you have worked hard and deserve everything you earn. Being a doctor, much less becoming one, requires a tremendous amount of dedication and self-sacrifice.
My wife is self-employed, and she busts her butt everyday to manage her business despite being taxed to the point of being unfair. Some of the people she hires will work for a short time and then try to collect workers comp., or hope to get fired so they can claim unemployment.
I work hard too. I know...teaching is easy, and on top of that we are grossly overpaid (if you listen to the people in our community). But I work harder than many of the students I am trying to teach, and in some cases, harder than the moms and dads who want me to do even more of the custodial duties (counsel them, feed them, coach them, babysit them, discipline them - but don't touch them) that only the parents should do.
But you, my wife and I have got it made. We have reaped the benefits of our education and our work ethic. Although we may not be rich, we make a comfortable living (heck, we've got our own tractor).
But my father has busted his butt for the past 32 years in a garage building military tanks, and there is no end in sight if he wants to maintain his current style of life. My brother, who is divorced, will never be able to afford his own home unless he marries again, yet he works as much overtime as he can get.
Do I resent the lazy and the dishonest who steal from the system? Of course.
Do I wish that I wasn't taxed as much? Of course.
Do I think that everyone who is on welfare or struggles to make ends meet is a product of their own laziness, and therefore undeserving of help - I do not.
I feel this way primarily because we don't live in a vacuum, and our social system leaves a lot to be desired.
I guess that if I were paid what I think teachers are worth (about $1.1 million per year), I'd be willing to forego the $20,000, so that my father, or brother, or the rest of those who struggle to make ends meet, could do just that.

 

[Bird]

Well said, Hess. And I'm afraid if we paid teachers what I think the job's worth, none of us could afford our school taxes./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif A good teacher is invaluable, and I'm afraid that's a job I wouldn't want. I was asked awhile back to be a "substitute" teacher in the local high school and very quickly declined.

Bird

 

[Branch]

Hess, I can appreciate what you're saying, but is it the right way to have a Robin Hood attitude about taxes. In the example I gave about my brother and his wife I didn't mention that they had put everything they owned on the line. Should they have failed at what they were doing they would have lost everything. He had been a cop for 22 years, busting his butt, and got retired out for falling through a Jack in the box window and screwing up his back. She'd been a clerk in a liquor store working nights and had little to show for it. Now that they have money who should decide how much they get to keep. What if their business goes to crap thru no fault of their own, can they file for a refund, or does our society say tuff luck. You were undeserving when you had more than we did, but now we like you cause you have less. Everyone is at risk with what they do in life. Success shouldn't be punished.

Branch