Tax - How much did you say?

BRUTALITY FACTOR - Low

I still remember how happy I was when I got my first job. That too, within two months after I graduated. This was the time when being a consultant was more common than a full time. It was good even though I had to move to a place which was in the middle of nowhere. And I also remember how shocked I was, looking at my first pay check.

It didn't look like a pay check at all. It was more like an itemized bill from the Government. The items included social security tax (my donation for the needy), Medicare, state tax, medical insurance, dental insurance, vision, my dogs insurance (medical, dental, vision and disability), 401k and income tax. The income tax can be further itemized into money needed for the Iraq war and jet fuel for the Air force One. After all this, I was left with around twenty cents which, is more than the postage cost itself.

I just wanted my part-time job back which gave me most of my hard earned money. The Government first taxes you on your pay. Then if you want to buy anything with the pittance left, you are charged sales tax again. The store again has to pay tax on the profit they get. So the Government is in a win-win situation here. Anything that comes into your pocket is taxed and, so is anything that comes out of it.

I just feel ripped off when most of my money is spent on tax. Sales taxes are close to a whopping 10%. Income taxes can be 15% to almost 50%. Coming from the Middle East, where the word tax does not exist, it is just hard to digest. True, our gas prices pretty much voids out the need for the Arabs to tax people.

My cell phone bill almost has 25% in extra charges. It also includes a charge for 911. Doesn't big daddy take care of it? The Government gives tax breaks for people who own houses. But again, you have one more tax to pay now. The Property tax. I could, might as well do a direct deposit into the feds bank account. It’s finally going there anyways.

With all these being said, the government almost justifies with the amenities provided for us. The police, fire fighters, medical services and, all the pretty flowers to beautify the city. Without tax, this won't be possible. The worst part is when our President Bush decides to give Iraq a makeover when they didn't even want one. It costs billions and billions of dollars to keep the army there. And its our money for heavens sake. I think he needs our approval before he creates any disasters like this or, he just needs another Monica Lewinski to keep him busy.

And what can we do about it? Nothing. Just pay up or move to the Middle East.