I was having lunch with a dear friend of mine not long ago and we were having a discussion about just how bad off I feel politics and the state of our country has become over the past several years, both under Obama AND Bush. When he asked me for something specific, I brought the travesty that is our federal and state taxation system. I mentioned in particular that I feared we could soon see more and more people paying close to 50% in taxes, outside of such taxes as sales tax and things like that which are harder to quantify. He seemed completely aghast at my concerns and basically passed it off as utterly ludicrous, that no one was anywhere close to paying 30 or 40 percent, let alone 50.
Well, I was listening to the news just now and they gave me a set of interesting figures out of New York. Certain higher tax brackets in New York City are paying the following tax ranges:
- 35-39% in Federal Income Tax
- 8-12% in New York State Income Tax
- 4 and a half percent in ‘City tax’
That’s getting awful close, don’t you think? (Hehe, yeah, ya think?!) Hell, the Federal income tax alone is already inching far too close to 50% for comfort, so I certainly don’t think it’s that outlandish of a concern to think that we could soon see half of our income being taken away in one form of taxation alone, let alone all the various taxes combined. And I’m not just talking about the wealthy, although frankly, I don’t feel they should have half of their income taken away any more than anyone else’s. After all, the wealthy are the ones who are investing in companies, creating their own, and getting all that capital out into the system that makes the world go round. But beyond that, everyone’s taxes are escalating, and the threshold for the so-called “wealthy” seems to dip ever lower with each passing year. Those who are currently wagging their fingers at the “evil wealthy” and proclaiming it necessary for them to be unfairly punished, they may soon find themselves in the same boat.
Granted, I don’t personally have any experience with taxation at the moment, given the fact that I’m no longer working due to disability and have no income to speak of. But do any of you out there have any personal experiences to share? How much of your income is being taken away to the government’s National Money Hole?

By the way, I want to apologize for the long delay between new entries lately. My health has declined a bit over the past several months as I’ve been battling both a long term upper respiratory infection as well as decompression sickness (don’t ask…) I’m trying to keep up, but alas, sometimes my body and brain just won’t let me. I’m doing my best, though, and will keep trying to bring you my perspectives on the latest political tidbits. Of course, if any of you would like to suggest a topic, or even if you want to write an entry and submit it, that’d be peachy with me!