I finished my 2014 taxes yesterday.  No, I wasn’t procrastinating, though I do hate compiling my tax information to send to my Accountant.  It is prudent financial advice to file your taxes on the day they are due (April 15th) when you have to pay.  When you’re expecting a tax return is when you file as quickly as possible.  I’ve had to pay taxes for decades and I’m OK with that.

Yes, I am A-OK with paying taxes.  As the husband of an educator and brother of a firefighter, I know the importance of Federal, State, and local government-funded programs.  I want to be safe from harm.  I want a strong educational system.  With the 2016 presidential race right around the corner, I’m confident we will be bombarded with promises of lower taxes and smaller government but let me ask you this.  Would you, my American friends, rather not hear about how our tax money is being spent?

No matter whether you’re Republican or Democrat, the United States of America is still the greatest country in the world and it is thanks to our government.  We enjoy freedoms here like no other country in the world including the all important freedom of speech.  We have the strongest military.  We have the strongest opportunities to realize your ‘American’ dream, whatever that may be, from starting a business, to owning a house, to earning an education.  But, over time our government has built a spending juggernaut which no longer makes any sense to me.  We need to have a national debate about how the money is spent.

What I do have a problem with is 66% of our tax dollars fund social security, Medicare, safety net programs, and interest on our debt and 8% goes to our veterans, 3% to transportation infrastructure, 2% to education, and 2% to science and medical research.  I’m good with spending 18% on defense and I think more money should go to our veterans.  I want the USA to remain the strongest country militarily in the world.  Social Security and Medicare consume 48% of the Federal budget! People, don’t you think this is fucked up?

I’m not about to run for President – and I really couldn’t understand why anyone would – but if I were, my platform would be about flipping those numbers upside down.  Here’s where I stand.  Social Security and Medicare needs significantly reduced funding and transportation and education needs a gigantic boost.

I’d put the $851 billion Social Security slush fund right into transportation infrastructure.  How fucked up are US roads and bridges now where there’s a fucking traffic jam in every major city in the US, at any time of day or night, and literally unmaintained bridges could (and have) collapsed at any moment.  Why don’t we have bullet trains in the US?  Our rail infrastructure hasn’t vastly improved since the 1800’s.  Not to mention the nations ports, where explosive international trade has surged past the US’s ability to process all of the imports and exports.  Talk about social security.  Just think about how awesome it would be to once again have the best transportation system in the world.  Jobs would be created.  Trade would soar to new heights.  Whole industries would crop up.  I’d give 2% of my budget to help those poor souls who need Social Security to live.

Just think if we put the $511 billion which went into Medicare into education and science and medical research.  How many billions of dollars would be saved by putting dollars into finding cures vs. caring for sick.  I do believe every American deserves health care but I can’t fathom so little money going to the very thing we need to keep America remain competitive and healthy.  Our educators and medical researchers should be the highest paid professionals in the USA.  Sadly, they’re not.  The 3% currently spent on education and research of my budget would go to the uninsured souls who have no health insurance.

I got a little on my soapbox today.  This may seem out of character but it’s my 50th post and I thought I should get serious for once.  Sorry about that.  Besides, doing my taxes every year gets me thinking about where all my money went.  I’ll return to my regularly scheduled writing program of wit in two weeks.  In the meantime, my wife and mother in-law are out of bed and coming downstairs.  I better go put on my pajamas, get some coffee and go watch the last round of the Masters.