Philip Miles, an attorney in Central PA and author of the employment law blog Lawffice Space, writes:
Who the heck is FICA?
In an early episode of the hit sitcom Friends, spoiled rich-girl Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) is forced to take a job as a coffee shop waitress. After a few days of hard work she finally receives her first paycheck. Rachel excitedly opens the paycheck only to discover that it’s much smaller than anticipated:
”Who’s FICA? Why is he getting all my money?”
I think we’ve all been there! At least we know that money’s going to Medicare and Social Security though. The biggest “blob” on my paycheck is always the information-free “Federal Income Tax.”
Taxgirl requested guest posts explaining what her readers would like to see changed in Congress regarding taxes. I have a simple two part answer:
1. Actually bill the taxpayers for new appropriations; and
2. Tell taxpayers where their money is going on every paycheck.
Maybe it’s not reasonable to tell us every single expenditure but it could certainly apply to the monster projects Congress has taken on lately.
Billing the taxpayers would force us to actually pay for the bright ideas coming out of Washington instead of just throwing more debt on the 14-figure pile. It would also let us know how our money is being spent. When we feel the sting of deductions in each paycheck, it forces us to think about new appropriations a little more.
In practice, this proposal would lead to the coffee shop waitresses of today opening their paychecks only to exclaim: Who the heck is TARP? Who the heck is Iraq War? Who the heck is Stimulus? Don’t worry, that’s just your bill from D.C.
I know its not Congress but someone has taken your advice and created a poster that shows a breakdown of how your tax dollars get spent.
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
Plus explaining spending would only cover part of the story. It would still leave out the huge deficits we run.
Great idea though to have to explain where the money is going.
Hey taxgirl: you might have to come to the realization that as long as we give the feds trillions of dollars in taxes and then let them borrow even more by stealing from our born and unborn decedents, they will remain: the most powerful, corrupt, and unaccountable people in the world. Can you think of another entity with so much money and power? The only way to reduce the waste, fraud, and abuse is to limit the money they receive and what they can do with it. There are no other solutions and never will be. If you like all the social programs and the feel good legislation, you have to accept the waste, fraud, and abuse, and you especially have to accept the continued loss of freedoms through regulation.