**they need a disgusted emoticon.**

It is Tax Day in the United States, a day that many people dread. How many of you (in the U.S.) have waited until the very last minute to file your tax forms? (I did mine in January so I can sit back and make fun of people who procrastinated.)

When I look at my tax return and see how much money the government takes, sometimes I get mad. But would it be worse if they didn't take very much and we gave up a lot of necessary services? I just wish they could get some of the waste out of the system so that the tax money is used efficiently.

I was just curious about what others were thinking on this dreadful day.

Heather H.

Heather--

I got money back this year; this is due to some shrewd planning and playing my cards right. However, I waited until April 8th to send in the forms; I hate doing the paperwork. No, I don't buy tax software that is only good for a four month span. And even though I am ordained, I still have taxes taken out and fill out my forms annually, and not quarterly. Talk about a pain...!

I digress. Sorry.

Having said all that, like you, I'd like to see some of the waste cut. But how does one define that waste? I think a highway to the South Pole is kinda dumb. But, they are building one. (I'm not kidding, sadly. It's an ice highway, and due to be done in a few years.) Here's a link that works for now: http://www.cnn.com/2004/T[...]way.ap/

I think some of the "projects" that get funded should not be. So, how do we decide what stays and what goes? What states get funding for pork cut, so we can improve other states? Does education in Mississippi get a boost, for example, at the expense of the highway they are building between Evansville and Indianapolis? Do we further erode California's somewhat fragile economy by closing down more military bases so that we can study the effects of acid rain in New York?

As for taxes themselves: I am still convinced that a 5% across the board flat tax is the way to go; I don't mind coughing up 5% of my income if people like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates do too. Plus all the Hollywood stars and Sports figures that make more in 16 weeks than I will in 5 years or more. Not to mention multi-billion dollar corporations.

I agree with you--but I think there's a few things to work out....

Luv 'n hugs,

Mina Sakura
"Almost-Angel, T-Girl Genius, and Ultra-Flirt"

You have a point. One person's waste is another person's vitally important project. I like the idea of the ice highway to the South Pole; it could help advance the cause of scientific research, and there is important work going on in Antarctica. Specifically, climate change research taking place there could be very useful one day. Hopefully, other countries are contributing to this effort.

Here is an example which should be considered wasteful by everybody. My grandfather used to work for the Forest Service. He told stories about an employee there who was incompetent. The supervisors simply stopped giving him work to do and he got paid for sitting at his desk and reading the newspaper all day. This story and others like it that I have heard shows why the government needs to be given more leeway to fire incompetent and lazy workers. I have seen some of this first-hand; I work for a defense contractor. While the waste and general lack of productivity is not quite as bad as what my grandfather described, unproductive behavior is tolerated a little too well there. It took them two years to fire a guy who did nothing except stare at the ceiling most of the time he was there. The federal government probably would not have fired that guy in 20 years; they would likely have made him a supervisor. (Maybe he is "working" for the government by now.) I hear that this problem is rampant throughout the defense industry; people tell me that some other defense contractors are far worse than the one where I work. My mother also describes waste at the local government level. She describes a situation at an office where she worked some time ago - about one-third of the people did most of the work, and the boss was lazy and sat around BSing all day. I wonder how much money is wasted on this sort of "welfare for the middle class". There might be enough to be gained here to build lots of highways to the South Pole.

I know there are a lot of good people working for the government and defense contractors. They are angry about the waste and incompetence that seems to be tolerated, but they feel powerless to do anything about it. It is entrenched in the culture. Sometimes it seems like the only way to get fired is to criticize the idiot who sleeps at his desk all day, so people learn to keep quiet. If a solution can be found, a lot of tax revenue can be redirected to more useful purposes.

Heather H.

I sent mine in early February. I had to wait on my W2, or I would've done it in January.