It’s that time of the year when we meet with our tax guy. To
prepare, I take out a used manila envelope stuffed with receipts from 2016 and start to
sort them out. It’s a nice contrast to all the screen time, handling these thin
little crinkly, wrinkled receipts and remembering what concert I went to, what
CD or book I bought. It’s a funky system, but it works and makes me feel good
that I still buy books and CD’s and support the authors and artists who create
them, still go to concerts and such. And in my simple world of a lowly paid
music teacher, it’s nickel and dime stuff—$6 for this book, $18 for that CD,
$24 for that concert, all part of my ongoing professional development. I’m
meticulously adding long strings of numbers to get my tiny tax break and at the
end, the whole year’s worth probably adds up to some Wall St. mogul’s lunch
which his expense account pays for.
I actually believe in taxes as a means to pay for the plethora
of government services I enjoy—from fixing the potholes in the road to keeping
the libraries open to supporting (up to a point) the military to contributing
to health care to, top of my list, supporting public education. But now I’m
thinking of this guy leading the charge who refuses to reveal his taxes, who
publicly calls himself smart on a national debate because he didn’t pay much
(if any) tax to the government he’s supposedly running and who wants to
increase military spending by 52 billion dollars. That’s 52 BILLION. I’m still
sweating about buying a new pair of $60 mallets for school every two years and
now I’m supposed to contribute to a 52 billion dollar INCREASE over an already
over-inflated military budget, some to create more nuclear weapons which will
most certainly hasten our demise.
That doesn’t feel good.
I know it’s a long shot, like the class prank where all the kids
are supposed to do something at the same time like turn around and pull down
their pants and moon the teacher. If everyone does it, no one will get in trouble.
But when the critical moment comes, everyone secretly backs down and that one
trusting kid is left alone with his pants down. But my friends, what if
millions of us simply refused to pay taxes until:
1)
The President reveals his.
2)
Corporations and billionaires are forced to
pay their fair share.
3)
Military spending decreases by a small amount
(by their standards) and gives the money to education.
4)
Pigs fly.
Anyone with me? 1-2-3- withhold!! Aw, come on!