Taxes and Integrity

I was working on my taxes and when I got down to the end, I noticed that I owed a dollar.

Yes, ‘a’ – as in one – dollar.

Now, I’m not going to rant and rave about the fact that I actually owe money…for the first time ever…or that I don’t make enough to owe money, or even the reason that I owe money (somehow my employer has me as having two exemptions, when I clearly have one).

There are a few reasons I’m calm – now – about giving Barack a dollar. First and most obvious, it’s one dollar. I know people who pay thousands…as in multiple. Thing I’m mad at about the dollar is that the danged stamp to mail the check is going to cost almost half that.

The payment being so small shows that even with the exemption nonsense, it still worked out pretty well. I’d rather break even than comparatively struggle all year and then get some arbitrary lump sum. I don’t have any financial concerns that I can’t handle, so no balloon payment is necessary. However, neither of those is the main reason I’m calm.

The main reason I’m calm about paying a dollar is that I’m a…Democrat, liberal, lefty, progressive, or whatever term describes my political affiliation. To get away from the point a bit: how many Republicans would take the deal of paying $1 in taxes for Mitt Romney to be president today?

Exactly.

Digression coming…it does feel like I’m fulfilling a civic duty, but it goes deeper than that. Paying this dollar is a show of personal integrity: a way to say “look, I support higher taxes and this is my proof”. I have no problem with my check being slightly smaller than it was last year due to the payroll tax cut ending. It is what it is. As I said on Twitter: if you’re that concerned about two percent, then you’re not budgeting correctly at all. For most people, that two percent probably costs less (per check) than a decent evening out.

The same principle applies with this dollar payment. Before I go on, I’d be a little less cool if it were $100 but I think the same thought process would eventually prevail. If we want things from our government, we have to pay for them – the same way that we have to pay for things we want from anything/one/where else. Roads, schools, defense (going to leave this alone for now), public employ – none are free, and none should be. The “system” that we have allows us to make our money and live our lives. Is there variance among us? Of course. Funny thing about that variance is that the people who benefit the most want to contribute the least, comparatively speaking. Nevermind the fact that our (U.S.) national tax rate is among the lowest in the world as is.

Long story short, I believe that if you’re going to be on this side of the political ledger that a willingness to buck up and contribute is a show of integrity. I’m not saying it’s the only show of integrity or that those who disagree with my stance lack integrity. Most Democrats say only the rich should pay more: I obviously agree that the rich should contribute more, but also think that the rest of us shouldn’t shy away from the responsibility.

(As far as how the money is spent, well…that’s another matter.)