Another Week Almost Gone!!

I swear the older I get the faster time flies. It seems only yesterday we were getting ready for the holidays and now a whole month as passed into the new year.

I have been watching with interest as the presidential candidates pull out of the race this week. In my demented brain I am finding it interesting that they did this before super Tuesday. I do not have a political background so I am sure that there were reasons behind it. What I do not know. I am not sure that we are ready for our former first lady to take the reins of the country and being an independent myself I don't think we need another military mind in the White House. I am of the opinion that Barack Obama would make a great president. He is young, has fresh ideas that make sense and I feel that many more heads of state throughout the world would work better with him than his rival. We need all the help we can get to improve our image with the rest of the world.

We need to get our troops out of Iraq as soon as reasonably possible. My feeling is that we never should have gone in there in the first place. I am sure that most Americans feel that we should have had more of a reason to attack Iraq before we just barged in. But, I also feel that Sadam Hussein was justly tried for his crimes against humanity and had we not invaded the country he would probably not have been brought to justice.

I am also concerned about the billions of dollars that are sent to other countries around the world. We have thousands if not millions of people here in the United States who are at or very near the poverty level and struggle to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. I am not talking about those who spend their lives living on the system I am talking about those who go to work everyday and try to survive without government help or survive in spite of the lack of it. The government puts a price on what they perceive as poverty level. How much money do those who set that figure make a year. Bet it is a heck of a lot more. Has that increased with the price of oil, gas, groceries, etc. Housing has gone out of sight and it takes an act of congress just to be able to get a place to live. I have watched rent around here in my area jump beyond what I could afford if I didn't have my own home. I can see me living in my camper at my parents old house paying my nephew rent to park it there. As it is I live in a 1962 mobile home that I am trying hard to renovate.

I am seeing a lot of housing prices knocked around on TV these days and it is no wonder that the foreclosure rates in California are so high. Here in the northeastern part of New England median salaries are under 15 dollars an hour for most people. By the time we pay our high health and disabilities insurance costs and pay what Uncle Sam wants from us we have lost 1/4 or more of our pay check. Try to save some through the 401K plans and you have taken another 10% away. Our housing costs are probably on average 1/3 the costs in California. How much do those people make out there?

Is there an answer to how to cut government spending and bring down taxes? Is there a way to make health care more affordable? Do we, as supposedly the richest nation on earth (next tot he UAE), need to support the world when we can not even take care of our own first? Why after working all our lives and then trying to get those final debts paid do we have to have social security income taxable. I could go on with all kinds of questions, but what or who would listen? I have never played the system nor tried to live off it and I hope that I never have to, but would love to know why people are allowed too.

When our Senators and Members of Congress leave office with their full salary for the rest of their lives, which by the way is not part of the social security system, do they have to pay taxes on that retirement? If I had to live on what they make I don't think I would complain, but then the more we make the more we want to make. I remember my first job in high school was working in a toy factory making just over a dollar an hour. What do we do now. Cost of living is out of sight for the regular guy.

Someone please enlighten me! I would love some answers to my questions that make sense.

Have a great Day!!
Debs

Income Taxes - On my soap box!!!

On a much heavier note I did my taxes this weekend. Quick simple and highly depressing. We do not have major deductions and so just do a simple form. To keep me from going out of my mind with the nagging that I was getting every night when I got home from work while my DH was recuperating from cervical spine surgery. I hounded him until he went to work, first as a dishwasher and then as a greeter at Walmart. He needed to get out and be around people and that was the only way I could find to get him out of his recliner. He was always a social person until he didn't work any longer and then he became a recluse with only me and our children on occasion to talk to.

Well with that said, his income took us over the limit for social security to be taxable we now have to pay in income tax this year. One wonderful thing about our government - they never want anyone to keep their head above the poverty level. We work all our lives paying into this so called retirement system and then when we get to the point that we can retire we have to keep ourselves at the poverty line to prevent being taxed all over again. Isn't this a wonderful world we live in. It costs more to get to work, to heat our homes, put food in the cupboards and in general just live day to day, but our paychecks do not go up all that much and then we get hit with taxes for trying to survive. So now we are being penalized because we want to be out of debt by the time I want to retire and to have everything ready to hit the road as full time RVers.

It is no wonder that there is rampant depression and suicide in our elder population. One saying that comes to mind. You are Damned if you do and Damned if you don't. What is there to look forward to in the so called golden years.

Have a great day,
Debs