Mommy Life

February 2, 2009 10:24 PM

Taxes

From my Inbox - thanks, Tripp! 

               Tax his land,
               Tax his bed,
               Tax the table
               At which he's fed.
        
               Tax his tractor,
               Tax his mule,
               Teach him taxes
               Are the rule.
        
               Tax his work,
               Tax his pay,
               He works for peanuts
               Anyway!
        
               Tax his cow,
               Tax his goat,
               Tax his pants,
               Tax his coat.
        
               Tax his ties,
               Tax his shirt,
               Tax his work,
               Tax his dirt.
        
               Tax his tobacco,
               Tax his drink,
               Tax him if he
               Tries to think.
        
               Tax his cigars,
               Tax his beers,
               If he cries
               Tax his tears.
        
               Tax his car,
               Tax his gas,
               Find other ways
               To tax his ass.
        
               Tax all he has
               Then let him know
               That you won't be done
               Till he has no dough.
 
               When he screams and hollers,
              Then tax him more,
               Tax him till
               He's good and sore.
        
               Then tax his coffin,
               Tax his grave,
               Tax the sod in
               Which he's laid.
        
               Put these words
               upon his tomb,
               ' Taxes drove me to my doom...'
               When he's gone,
               Do not relax,
               It's time to apply
               The inheritance tax.

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
               Accounts Receivable Tax
               Building Permit Tax
               CDL license Tax
               Cigarette Tax
               Corporate Income Tax
               Dog License Tax
               Excise Taxes
               Federal Income Tax
               Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
               Fishing License Tax
               Food License Tax
               Fuel Permit Tax
               Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
               Gross Receipts Tax
               Hunting License Tax
               Inheritance Tax
               Inventory Tax
               IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
               Liquor Tax
               Luxury Taxes
               Marriage License Tax
               Medicare Tax
               Personal Property Tax
               Privilege Tax
               Property Tax
               Real Estate Tax
               Service Charge Tax
               Social Security Tax
               Road Usage Tax
               Sales Tax
               Recreational Vehicle Tax
               School Tax 
               State Income Tax
               State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
               Telephone Federal Excise Tax
               Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
               Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
               Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
               Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
               Telephone State and Local Tax
               Telephone Usage Charge Tax
                Use Tax
                Utility Taxes
                Vehicle License Registration Tax
                Vehicle Sales Tax
                Watercraft Registration Tax
                Well Permit Tax
                Workers Compensation Tax
            
                 STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
            
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians!' And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?!?!?!?

"No Man's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session." --American lawyer, editor, politician, Judge Gideon Tucker (1826-1899)

Love,

Posted in Complaint Department, Humor | Permalink

Comments

Barbara - the quote at the end of this piece is just pefect for an article that I'm writing to NH legislators, who are hard at work trying to pass laws that would make homeschooling very close to impossible - taking most if not all of the control out of the parent's hands. Not sure if you ever raise these kinds of issues on your blog but NH could use all the help it can get to raise awareness as I don't think most know what's coming...Some of the state reps didn't even know about the bill. We've got a very determined rep that, as she's admitted, is distrustful of homeschooling families, and is trying to impose very restrictive regulations where the state would have the power to permanently terminate the parents right to choose how their children receive an education. It's the greatest stab at our freedoms...trying to take control of our children at the earliest age possible...We continue to trust in God's great providence in these matters but are very concerned. Thank you Barbara for all you do in raising awareness of many important issues!

Posted by: Kim | February 3, 2009 9:45 AM

I love it. We pay more than half of our income to taxes. Cumulative taxes are our biggest expense. Am joining some class action suits on property tax around here. We pay through the nose and we don't even use the public schools here! I understand why everyone has to pay, but the amounts here are outrageous. And we are looking at increases!

Posted by: Cath Young | February 3, 2009 10:49 AM

Kim, I think homeschooling can be a wonderful thing, but I have also seen it misused. There are unfortunately parents out there who are not capable of schooling their kids adequately who do it. It takes a certain amount of discipline to get a child fed, dressed and to school each day. There is an element that claims to home school that does not do so and uses that option as an out to getting their kids to school and in view of other folks. The fact that the kids are assessed and seen by others is protection for some of them. Because there are such folks out there, some sort of accountability needs to be put into place for those kids who are not getting the minimum that our schools can provide.

The pendulum swings way to0 far to compensate for these problems, and somehow homeschoolers as a group need to come up with some checks that will catch those who are neglecting and even abusing their kids under the guise of home school. It is so much easier to clamp down on all homeschoolers than to figure out how to solve the true problem at hand.

[Note from Barbara: Cath, I couldn't disagree with you more. Homeschoolers as a group consistently outperform kids in public school. The cost per pupil in public school is nearly 10,000 - a cost borne by homeschooling families as well as those whose kids attend public schools. Homeschooling families are better stewards of money, natural resources, and time.

I think you are wrong to assume that anyone would opt for homeschooling out of laziness. I would argue that parents who homeschool are responsible 6-8 hours per day for their children that they could otherwise park in someone else's care. Do you know homeschooling families? The ones I've known have been - of necessity - much more hardworking and involved with their children than those whose kids are home so few hours per day. Some have more laid-back educating styles - and that is okay too. Homeschooling kids are learning plenty that public school kids are not.

As someone who has homeschooled, private schooled, and public schooled, I will tell you that the actual curriculum takes half the time - or less- as that required in public school.

As for some parents you deem not qualified or hardworking enough - I will match you 100 to one with teachers who are not qualified or hardworking enough. I am blessed to live in a good school district, but have had at least one TERRIBLE teacher who actually hurt my child's progress. Across the nation, we have some teachers who can't spell, who can't speak proper English, who are abusive, who exploit children sexually, and/or who are frankly too stupid to be entrusted with educating our children, much less getting paid for it.

I am against ANY controls on homeschooling. Yes, there will be some families that don't do it well - just as there are some schools and school districts that aren't doing it well.

The answer is not government oversight or regulation. The government has an interest in controlling homeschooling because these students are not part of the national propaganda machine but are learning to think for themselves.]

Posted by: Cath Young | February 3, 2009 10:57 AM

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle”
Winston Churchill

Posted by: Resident Old Married Man | February 3, 2009 11:05 AM

Barbara, I saw some of these children who were abused and neglected. They are by no means typical of home schooled kids, but they are those who fall between the cracks in society. Going to school is one of the very few safety releases that we have for them, as they are then seen by other eyes. I really would not call these parents home schoolers. They go under the guise. I am not talking about not adequately addressing educational needs, but basic ones which is abuse and neglect.

One thing about schools is that you are given other teachers over time instead of stuck with one. Yes, you will get bad teachers and inadequate instruction from schools but over time there is change. A bad homeschooling mom is a constant,not giving those kids a chance to learn.

Again, this is not the norm, but a very important fringe, and I would not call them home schoolers. However, with some rules for homeschooling, we can catch some of these kids who are being deprived of education and care and are out of the sight of people.

I home schooled myself and lived in a strong homeschooling cluster for 12 years in the western PA area. Those who embraced homeschooling did a terrific job. THough there were cases where it was not a great idea for the mom to take on the task as she had other issues that made it difficult for her to homeschool, overall, I would agree with you that for the kids, it was a better experience than many of the schools districts there. I homeschooled out of necessity as my child's needs were not being well met. For me, it was not an ideal situation, and I was glad to have found schools for all of them. I have the highest respect for those parents who homeschool as I know what it takes to do it well. But like many things, it's not the majority who are well served by something that is at issue but those whose lives are endangered and abused by a shield inadvertantly there that make some accountability needed for homeschooling families.

Where government goes wrong, is that instead of focusing on going after that very directed, serious problems, they blanketly want to run and control many aspects of homeschooling that is none of their business. By addressing the serious issue at hand and coming up with proposals to catch those who are abusing homeschooling, homeschoolers can come up with answers that are least invasive to themselves. We did that in our area, and though it did involve paperwork to homeschool, it did catch anyone who was just too lazy and irresponsible to send their kids to school. There are such people, and I have seen them.

Across the line in West Virginia, where there were not such laws, we saw even more of these problems where kids were truly non schooled. I don't mean non schooled like my cousin raised her son, who she considered non schooled but really means homeschooled in a free spirit way. I mean neglected. The reason we do have truancy laws is because there are folks who exist who would not educate their kids and not give those kids an opportunity to be taught at the schools either. Also parents who have lost control of their kids at early ages who decide simply not to go to school. This is a whole big part of the population that is not your audience, as they and you are parents who are trying to give more to kids, not less. It is a sad thing that we have this segment of society. We do have to try to help those kids who are the meek to rise above the meager opportunities that their parents would give them.

Posted by: Cath Young | February 3, 2009 12:28 PM

This new fangled web thing is confuzed. I was quoting Churchill because I was in the room when he said it!

Posted by: Resident Old Married Man | February 3, 2009 1:48 PM

Cath -- I'd be interested in hearing more about the solutions your group came up with, and what that looked like. I've been aware of the problem you describe for some time. My SIL is a social worker who works with kids in the foster care system; she has only 11 cases, each bad enough that they expect these 11 cases to take up 40 hours/week. Of these 11 cases, three had parents who claimed to be "homeschooling" them prior to the abuse being discovered and the children removed.

Social workers often have a bad opinion of homeschooling because they only see the bad cases. (Much like ER doctors have a bad opinion of homebirths because they only see the ones that go wrong -- you wouldn't go to the hospital if everything were going well!) My SIL, having observed me, is doing a wonderful job of educating her coworkers about the good side of homeschooling, which is very encouraging.

But it is a serious problem. How do we protect the kids who are being abused/neglected without imposing hardships on the parents who are doing the right thing, or putting restrictions that limit the wonderful flexibility of homeschooling to meet the child's needs? I would be interested in your thoughts.

Newt

Posted by: Newt Sherwin | February 4, 2009 9:31 AM

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