jrl@harpo.UUCP (j. liano) (03/20/84)
One question has always come to mind around this time of year. That being when you pay taxes on your income (federal), you cannot deduct your social security taxes. Since this is a large sum these days, and it is NOT income (you can't spend it) what would happen if you took the deduction. Chances are that the IRS would nail you to the wall. Another idea is that in the U.S. our governments are based on a hierarchy. That being your local government comes first, your state comes second and the federal comes last. Based on this logic one should be able to pull off somethinf like this: Pay your local taxes based on your full gross income pay your state taxes on gross income minus local taxes paid pay your federal taxes on gross income minus local taxes, state taxes and social security taxes. Another thing that needs to be done is the adjusting of the tax tables for inflation. For example say in 1950 you made 20K. Well that 20K enabled you to buy a home and a car (new !) and still have 2K left over for the fed. (based on a 10% bracket). Well in 1984 that 20K puts you in the 23% bracket and there is no way with what is left that you could buy a car, let alone a house. What has happened is that people who are < 30 must accept a lower standard of living than their parents did. Thus our concept of an upward mobile society has been shot to hell by a group of self serving wise old men. Roosevelt started it with the Social security program, Johnson added to it with the Medicare/Medicaid system, and Reagan is adding to it with the defense. By the time that the baby boom generation retires, the working populus will be paying around 50% of their income to support us. I don't think that the people will be so docile that they will stand for this. But we put up with todays tax rate don't we ?