Yesterday was April 15th, and it was a genuine twofer as far as government suckage goes: it was Tax Day, on which the few are required to pay their "fair share" to support the many or go to jail, and it was also the last (alleged) day for anyone to complete their Obamacare applications until the next enrollment period.
Both events struck close to home here at Hope n' Change, and have given us a lot to think about over the coming days and weeks. We can't really give details, other than to say an examination of our income to expense ratio (especially when it came to health insurance and medical bills) is, stunningly, an almost exact duplicate of our drinking coffee to drinking "coffee" ratio. Which, of course, is not a coincidence.
(Side note: Hope n' Change sends a sincere "thank you" to generous reader Mary, who recently restocked our official HnC "coffee" bar with about a dozen airline-sized bottles of refreshment. They are president-approved, because they are painkillers rather than pacemakers.)
There are, happily, some consolations to avoiding (unintentionally, but entirely legally) any taxes this year. We didn't pay for even a single new hollow-point bullet for the freakin' post office. We didn't pay for a single glass of champagne on one of Nancy Pelosi's "official" government flights. Our taxes didn't supply Sandra Fluke with a single multi-ribbed spermicidally-lubricated citrus-flavored condom. We didn't buy a single golf ball for Barry. Nor did we pay for as much as a tablespoon of jet fuel to help Michelle Obama take yet another million-dollar vacation.
When looked at from that perspective, Hope n' Change feels pretty darn good about the governmental idiocy, evil, and pork which we personally failed to fund, thereby making the world a better place.
So maybe being taxed isn't such a sure thing after all. We'll let you know what we come up with for cheating Death.
Since it appears that the 16th ammendment, which established the IRS, was never legally ratified by the necessary three quarters of the states, that agency is therefore unconstitutional. However, considering the billions of rounds of ammo purchased by the DHS,along with the hundreds of thousands purchased by the SSA, NOAA, and now the USPS - not to mention the untold amounts already in the possession of the US military; at a ratio of 6 bullets per terrorists, they evidently outnumber US citizens in the order of at least ten to one. We should be thankful to pay our taxes in order that our beloved government may protect us against that overwhelming menace. Obviously, since the DHS also purchased paper targets of children and pregnant women, those terrorists have infiltrated all sections of our society.
ReplyDeleteI feel I must add a sarcasm disclaimer to this post before some libtard agrees with me.
DeleteHi Stilt,
ReplyDeleteThere is a way to get around Obamacare. Have you seen this? A LEGAL loophole to the ACA!
Liberty HealthShare
http://acaout.org
I's surprised that the regime isn't suing the horse for copyright infringement!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's because the horse makes more sense when he plagiarizes a lamont speech.
Good point, @Stilton. I think that relatively few people honestly appreciate how perverse out tax code is, and how it actually discourages positive participation in our economy, and encourages us to become the "looters".
ReplyDeleteWant to see for yourself? It's not all that difficult. (If you're a "numbers geek" like I am, you'll find this fun) Now that the April 15th deadline is behind you, crank up that copy of TurboTax and create a pretend-profile of a worker who makes around $65,000 a year. Add the usual deductions. See what they ultimately end up paying. (Form 1040, line 61)
Then create another pretend profile for a worker making $30,000 a year. Then throw in a wife and a couple of kids. Let TurboTax find all of the extra deductions and credits that this family might qualify for. Then see not only what they "owe" for taxes on line 61, but all of the "credits" they get on lines 64 through 71. In all likelihood, you'll find that this worker will be getting back more money than they paid in!
Then consider that if you were actually "citizen" #2, (I can't call them a "taxpayer" since they aren't) you'd likely qualify for near-free subsidized ObamaCare or be on MedicAid, and eligible for all kinds of government benefits that taxpayer #1 was not. If you add up the value of all those benefits that citizen #2 likely receives that taxpayer #1 has to actually pay for and add that to citizen #2's "total income", (1040 line #22) you'll find that what they actually make is nearly the same!
In some states, you'll find that citizen #2 does even better. (You'll have to continue on and complete a state return to find out how much)
So if you're some poor schlub who's making less that $65k, it's easy to see why it doesn't make much difference when you get a raise. ObamaCare's subsidy scheme is going to make this even worse over time.
This is also why the IRS is now having such a problem with identity fraud; Since it's possible to get back far more money form the IRS than was paid in, and creating a fictitious tax return is so easy, (after all, you just did it) and the IRS blindly sends out billions of dollars every year to whoever files without doing even a basic check to see if the return is legitimate, it's become big business. (That could easily be stopped with a few dozen lines of computer code that the IRS doesn't seem interested in writing)
For years, I've been telling people that before very long, it's going to make more sense for me to semi-retire or retire altogether than to keep working, especially once health care becomes "universal" or "free". If 1/4 or more of my income ultimately gets spent on paying health care and other stuff the government is going to give away for free, there's actually little incentive to work.
Fine with me. Will just mean more time free to attack Progressivism and it's perverse absurdities.
John the Econ -- good points, sir -- and with 70,000 pages of gobbledygook the IRS code is perverse. More than 35 years ago I noticed a strange thing -- I was working at a supermarket -- and for every hour of overtime I worked at an alleged "time and a half!" I would bring home 25 cents less in pay -- for the payroll tax would be higher. I told the boss - no more overtime. He needed the work - I said, "Pay me in lost food" -- and he did. He'd simply slip me groceries and I'd punch out and work "only" 40 hours - and I took my pay in kind. No doubt the company then took a tax deduction for "inventory shrinkage" -- yeesh, what a mess.
ReplyDeleteEven stranger, studies have been done where the same numbers for an example taxpayer are given to 10 different tax preparers, including and IRS agent, and more than 1/2 of them came up with a different amount owed on the exact same numbers.
On a historical note -- yesterday was the anniversary of the Titanic sinking and Lincoln being shot -- since both happened before the IRS -- I'm assuming they picked the day on purpose -- to show that death and taxes do come together.
It is a criminal organization. Lois Lerner is indeed horses ass.
ReplyDeleteI must admit Doc, that the horse's ass is my favorite HnC character. It always speaks the truth. I wonder, if like Doc Carson, you are going to get a call from the White House (racist) to apologize to Dear Leader for such a complimentary portrayal of the prez?
@John The Econ and @Jim Hlavac point out that there are so many laws and regulations that we are all guilty of something. It keeps Congress powerful and the rest of us serfs. I wondering what the difference between Congress and the Mafia is????
Oppsss - "Lois Lerner is indeed a horse's ass". Sorry still rusty with HTML (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it) and I know how nit-picky the IRS is about grammatical things - wouldn't want any trouble.
ReplyDelete@Chuck Ef The difference between the Government and the Mafia is that the Government is powerful enough to steal everyone's money, every year.
ReplyDelete@Geoff King- I'm sometimes amused by people who refuse to pay taxes by claiming they're unconstitutional. Regardless of the arguments, the government WILL come for "their" money.
ReplyDelete@Steve Craig- That's an interesting alternative to the ACA and traditional insurance. I've got a good friend who uses just such a system (a large group of Christians who share costs) and is very happy with it.
@Bruce Bleu- And note that this horse's hiney doesn't even need a teleprompter!
@John the Econ- Great examples. Assuming that it takes more work or education to earn $65k rather than $30k, it becomes clear what a disincentive to self improvement occurs when there's no financial benefit to try harder. You can cruise along at the lesser job and still do fine - as long as you continue to vote for government handouts.
Per your last point, I'm still holding the line and not taking any government benefits - though I will take Social Security when I have sufficiently ripened because they'll never pay back all that I paid in.
@Jim Hlavac- Great story about the groceries and the creative way you and your manager worked it out. That's how ridiculous tax rules actually jumpstart the creation of underground economies and off the books transactions. Which then becomes sort of a "gateway drug" to additional disregard for laws.
@Chuck Ef- All this talk about a horse's ass (the one who isn't president) reminded me of the rare, collectible Hope n' Change Wristwatch. Warning - these take a loooooong time to ship from Hong Kong or someplace. And I don't make a dime from 'em...I just created the design to honk off the Libs.
And the difference between Congress and the Mafia is that the Mafia works longer hours and actually does what it says it will do.
@Dobro Player- Excellent point. I've had no problems with the Mafia, but the IRS has been stealing my lunch money for nearly half a century now...
I still have my Hope n' Change wristwatch and wear it proudly for the same reason you designed it ... to honk of Libs.
ReplyDeleteObama now doing a presser singing the praises of ObamaCare. It's been wonderful for 8-million people, and all the stories of people who it has hurt have been debunked.
ReplyDeleteBecause I just love that I am now paying OVER TWICE WHAT I WAS PAYING EVERY MONTH than I was before ObamaCare passed. My COMPLETE RESENTMENT OF THIS IS A COMPLETE MYTH.
Glad that's settled. The American people don't want to talk about ObamaCare anymore. Move on, there's nothing to complain about here.
What an ass. The horse has it right.
@John the Econ
ReplyDeleteAnd I am scared to death about what will happen to my insurance, which I buy privately. I survived 2014 but 2015?
With so much uncertainty, so many new regulations (not just in healthcare), is it any wonder the economy is doing so poorly? And by that I mean, the slowest recovery from a recession ever. @Anonomous Troll, don't give me the BS about the financial shock either. This is all about horrendous government intrusion into the economy just like ... FDR. Only a world war "fixed" that one. Putin is knocking though.
Gotta get that watch ...
@Chuck EF, Obama's other big promise in 2008 was that my insurance would cost $2,500-a-year less by the end of his first term. Instead, it doubled.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many more jobs there would be if I and everyone like us had an extra $6,400-a-year to spend or invest in the economy. We certainly wouldn't be into the 6th year of a "recovery", would we?