Apr 09 2009
It’s that time of year…
It’s crunch time, and people are scrambling to do their taxes on time. Despite all the talk about bailouts and economic stimuli, my goat finds that she’s in the same boat she was in last year. Except this year there’s a bigger hole in it.
My goat managed to go up a pay-grade, which, in these turbulent economic times is still barely enough to make ends meet, which in turn means we have to pay back a significantly larger sum of money than we ever have before. I know that there are other ungulates in similar pastures having the same difficulties.
Now I am not going to get into debating tax cuts here or throw out the cliche line that the current system “punishes success.” I disagree with that claim. I understand that the government needs money to pay off the massive debt it incurred by supporting an overseas war that I did not support, so I know taxes aren’t going to drop any time in the near future. We cannot undo what has been done, but I would like to think that somehow we can improve the imbroglio in which we find ourselves.
I would like to see the Obama administration take stringent action against companies who are receiving and misusing stimulus money. Even moreso, I would like to see more stimulus money go to the people who elected him into office. And this time, I don’t want that government money factored into my income. This year when my goat did her taxes she discovered that the stimulus check she received last year (and which she spent on paying taxes on her pasture) was a part of her income and therefore taxable. Sure, she received a meager follow-up stimulus payment, but this time it’s going directly back to the IRS.
In the end, my goat is wondering exactly what she has to do to avoid this same situation next year. She’s cutting back on the expenses she can, but she’s already buying her hay at a discount store. One option is to pay more out during the year, but that makes day-to-day life more difficult during the rest of the year. Each goat can only do so much to stay afloat in today’s economy. Sooner or later the herders will need to pitch in, or the whole pasture will end up going to pot.
