The Liquor Talking

It’s Thursday, March 11, 2010 and time to vigorously vilify something.

Death to tax refunds.

It’s that time of the year again, where people are filing their income tax returns and are either elated that they’re getting money back or angry that they have to pay even more.

For many years, we tried to manage our tax withholdings with an eye toward having everything balance out. It’s kinda like a validation of the relationship I have with the state and federal governments. They withheld just the right amount, not too much, not too little and we end the year square with each other.

When I have to pay more, I feel like some sort of deadbeat who’s not been pulling his weight, but has yet been enjoying all the good things taxes pay for. When I get a refund, I feel like someone has been stealing from me, just now got caught and is all too happy to pay back what they stole.

Last year, we were off. Waaaaayyyy off and got a refund that actually made us take our return to (and pay) another preparer for verification. While I was happy to not be paying any extra, (and I know this sounds weird) but I was a little aggravated that this huge gob of cash was something that we probably could have used in our paychecks over the past year.

Oh yeah, I’m growing the beard back for turkey season

So the wife is busy gathering up all those little bits of paper we’ll need to prove we paid our fair share and will be making an appointment with a tax person for next week. It’s with no small amount of trepidation too. Since the tax laws got all stir-fried in the past couple of years, it was nigh on to impossible to calculate how much would be the right amount for withholding.

It’s another one of those things where, once government gets involved, we wind up with a huge, messy “solution” when a simple one would have done quite nicely. I mean what’s so hard about a flat tax? Would you be surprised to learn that the US Tax Code 17,000 pages and contains a mind-boggling 5.5 million words? I know I was.

I’m thinking this could be pared down to sticky-note: “Every man, woman, child and business receiving income in the US pays n% of their income.” No deductions, no tax credits, no tax shelters, no refunds and no “you still owe us.” The percentage is withheld from everyone’s pay check. Businesses stroke a check once a year. Boom! Done! Yeah, the IRS and outfits like H&R Block would be ass-out, but their existence is dependent upon keeping things complicated.

No crazier than a 17,000 page law, so while we’re at it: Death to our present Tax Code.

In other news, just when I think Nancy Pelosi can’t get any daffier, she proves me wrong. In speaking about Obamacare to the National Association Counties, she told those gathered: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy,”

Ummm… not to rain on your crazy train there, but I already know what’s in it. I don’t like it, I don’t want it and couldn’t afford it if I did. Plus, I’m still pretty steamed at all the sweetheart, closed-door, back-alley deals that went into this. For a bunch of people who claim to be wanting to corral special interest groups, Pelosi seems pretty willing to give it up.

I’m not sure what I find more disturbing; the facts that she is certifiably nuts or the fact that she thinks the American people are. Come on! You have to pass the bill so we can find out what’s in it? That implies there’s stuff in there we don’t know about.

I’m also worried that there’s a whole generation of liberals coming up who think that complete insanity is a desired qualification. The leaders of the democratic party are a bunch of loons. I worry about my nephew most of all.

Wow, the day kinda go away from me. Longer one tomorrow. For now though: