Taxes

Admittedly I don't know much about whatever the government is debating concerning taxes right now, I mean, all I know is what's on the radio. Based on what I've heard I'm pretty irritated. The idea that cutting taxes is somehow going to make our country more prosperous and less in debt doesn't make sense to me at all. If I were the US, and my sister or parents were giving me advice on good money management, becoming financially independent and getting out of debt, they would say 'evaluate what your needs are and make a budget; assign a set amount for debt repayment and savings first, then divide what you have between your other costs'.

But to me it sounds like the options that are being posed by our government are 1. decrease the amount of money you make a month, eliminate some of the things you are paying for that aren't essential to live on (like toilet paper), increase the amount of credit you use to pay for everything else and hope that someone thinks you are really cool and gives you more money or 2. reserve more money for your essentials, eliminate some non-essentials and borrow more money from your frienemies b/c you won't be able to make ends meet. I just don't understand it!

These tax debates have been going on for a long time, I know, but lately they feel more pertinent to me. About a month ago the National Building Museum informed its employers that we would have to start charging admission to visit the galleries in the museum, almost all of which used to be free to the general public. Why? Because of tax cuts. Federal tax cuts meant that almost half of the museum's funding was lost and the museum can't cover all of its expenses. The building was specifically set aside by an act of congress as a museum, but the government doesn't consider it important enough to give it enough money so that it can actually function as it should, or live up to is potential.

Some people think charging admission is ridiculous, and it is. Its a Federal building, after all, but the museum was designated as a non-profit, private museum. Meaning that we don't get the funding that other national museums get because we are not part of Smithsonian. Sadly, the reality of the matter is the money to run the building (maintain the appearance, provide educational exhibits and public programs, and pay staff) has to come from some place, and if its not coming directly from people's pay checks by way of taxes, its coming directly from their wallets by way of admission fees. I am not sure how big of a problem this has been in the museum, because ppl have always had to pay for the Lego exhibit, and I don't deal with the money, but I think its inevitable that people will complain. Most people think we are part of the Smithsonian, and because the museum is in a Federal building we are not allowed to charge for people to visit the great hall. So I can see how people would be confused that visiting one of the five or six galleries requires an admission fee.

My response to this is, 'did you vote to cut taxes? then stop complaining.' If you didn't vote to cut taxes, then please become more politically active. That's all I can think of. People love their free public parks, national monuments, camping out doors on public land, free museums, social security, unemployment checks, panther health if you get laid off, cheap public universities, and people complain that our public education system are awful-- but these same people vote to cut taxes. 2+2 does not equal 5 people. If you want the government to do its job, then you have to be willing to give up some of your money in taxes. You can't run a steam engine if you don't have any coal. Paying taxes is not a new concept. People have been paying taxes for thousands of years. Sure, governments aren't perfect and there is a lot of debate about how our money is spent, and some people mis-use it, but the upshot of it is that if something you like is supported by the government and you vote to cut taxes, then say sayanara to whatever that thing is, because it can't run on nothing.

Seriously, the only reason I registered as a democrat when I moved to DC is because I hate almost all Republican platforms, its just a statement because I don't even get a vote as a resident of the District of Columbia. Ironic that the residents of our nations capitol don't get a vote, we should go find a boat full of tea to burn. lol