Happy Tax Day

When I was a child and began to learn about taxes, my father told me he was proud to pay his taxes every year. He firmly believed that we lived in the greatest country in the world and he was proud to do his part to keep it strong. I remember being surprised by his words, and I've never forgot them. I have thought long and hard about them.

Apparently, his pride in paying his taxes is alive and well, at least with some people.

Hold the Tea: Americans Fine With Taxes
By Robert Mackey

In news that will be bad for activists hoping to start another American Revolution with a series of protests modeled on the Boston Tea Party, a new Gallup Poll finds that a solid majority of American say the income tax they pay is “fair,” and that slightly more than half classify their own tax burden as either “about right” or “too low.”

According to Gallup, their annual April poll on taxes found this year that 48 percent of Americans said the amount of federal income tax they pay is “about right,” 3 percent say it is “too low,” and 46 percent say it is “too high.” (Goldilocks could not be reached for comment.) Gallup notes that this level of support for current tax levels is “one of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956.” In nearly all past polls, Gallup adds, a majority said their taxes were too high.

This year’s poll also found 61 percent of Americans saying that “they regard the income taxes they have to pay this year as fair.”

Looking at the implications of their findings, Gallup concludes:

As the remaining U.S. tax filers prepare to send their income-tax returns before the April 15 deadline, Gallup finds Americans’ views of their federal income taxes about as positive as at any point in the last 60 years. This may reflect the income-tax cut that was part of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, as well as a continuing sense of patriotism with the country fighting two wars.

Gallup’s results are based on telephone interviews with 1,027 adults, and have a sampling error or plus or minus three percentage points.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/hold-the-tea-americans-support-taxes/?apage=3

I have no gripe with taxes. Life goes on, lahdy de lahdy da!

I say up the sales tax a % or 2.