The People on Taxes
(Advisor's note: After three interviews with grownups about how their tax dollars are spent, Emma Bunyea got a little dizzy. Read on to get a feel for how her brain works.)
By Emma Bunyea
Advisor's note: After three interviews with grownups about how their tax dollars are spent, Emma Bunyea got a little dizzy. Read on to get a feel for how her brain works.
“POTHINUS. [bitterly] Is it possible that Cæsar, the conqueror of the world, has time to occupy himself with such a trifle as our taxes?”, What is so important about taxes? Why does anyone care? Why do parents always complain about them? Are they good? Bad? What are they? Who should care about them? And Why? “CÆSAR. My friend: taxes are the chief business of a conqueror of the world.” (Bernard Shaw, Cæsar, and Cleopatra, 1899)
The United States has a plethora of reasons for taxing its citizens. Taxes pay for all kinds of things. From funding the federal military to the library of a local town. With every paycheck in America, there is a portion taken out for taxes. Supposedly, everyone is supposed to pay, but that is hardly the case. Regardless of who isn’t paying taxes, most people have to pay. Taxes fund the government, they fund public schools, they fund the roads … without taxes life would look very different.
Elaine Fryda, a history teacher at Poland Regional High School in Maine, urges government officials to listen to what the people want their tax money going towards. She believes that the best uses of her taxes are what goes to improving the education system by giving it the funding it truly needs. Along with bettering the infrastructure of this country, making sure that more people have access to newer roads and power. As well as funding the healthcare system because people of America do not have equal access to life-saving medications. And lastly, welfare, because in these trying times many more people could use another source of income. Ms. Fryda hopes that officials will stop overspending on the military and use that money for things she believes could really benefit the people.
Rebecca Bunyea, the director of social work at Clover Health Care, explains that she wants government officials to use her tax dollars to work on Universal Healthcare that works for the people. One that will give people who need life-saving medication a fighting chance, rather than a fiscal battle. She expressed that the tax money going towards her children’s education and her own retirement are worthwhile. But paying,as she claims, “dirty politicians” is quite possibly the worst.
Jessica Elias Castillo, the Human Anatomy and Physiology teacher of Poland Regional High School, is fed up with overpaying government officials for just doing their job and then paying them lifetime salaries. She would march right up to them and tell them to their face, ‘this is the worst use of my taxes!’. She would also inform them of her belief that there should be Senate term limits and more oversight of campaign funding that lead to elected officials giving back favors to their donors. She cites the problem of “passing bills with contingencies!” (also known as riders, add-ons and port barrel benefits). But, she reasons, the reason she became a teacher was to help the children, and she knows that taxes are used to improve education. Even if it could be more...
After interviewing all these people, Emma considered giving up a normal life and becoming a nomad, and never speaking to anyone ever again. And who should blame her? Becoming an adult sounds horrendous! As an almost-adult, here is Emma Elaine Bunyea’s hot take on taxes. She would like her taxes to go to helping immigrants live in America. Making sure that anyone who wants to be an American can be an American. This is counterintuitive, considering Emma wants to hide from any ties of America and taxes. But Emma knows that there are other places that are much worse and she would like to stay where she is. One can dream. She also would literally rather die than have her money go to the police, the military, or Donald Trump in any way shape, or form. And if she could say anything to government officials she would say, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and Barak Obama and Michele Obama! Wanna go to lunch?” Back to the tax report...
Taxes cause a strain on middle-class Americans. In a free-market economy, it makes it much harder for the little guy to get anywhere, who is taxed on permits, owning a shop to sell, taxes on merchandise, anything that he or she might need to start a business. This makes it nearly impossible for any ol’ Joe Shmoe to become half as successful as Walmart. They don’t have the same opportunities; big corporations get big tax breaks, small people don’t.
When Mr. Shmoe starts up his business, he is taxed on the supplies he sells. This makes his prices much higher than Walmart’s. If there is a cheaper option to buy products needed to survive, people don’t choose the more expensive ones. That is why time and time again, big chain stores are taken care of while small businesses get crushed.
Do you trust the government to take care of you with your money?