Subject: Truly ashamed Comment: These comments won't be as eloquent as some I've read here, nor will I make them as crass as others. Simply stated, my family is average middle class, in our 50s, trying to make ends meet month after month through hard work, and watching what we spend. We're not wealthy, but we not poor either. My husband was suddenly downsized out of his job of over 30 years ... goodbye decent wage (mid-$20/hour and not executive level by any stretch), goodbye health insurance. Unfortunately, some of the things that didn't go away were mortgage payments due, utility bills, cost of groceries, and the like. Being self-employed, I was able to just work harder, longer hours to help make up some of the slack, and he fortunately was able to find another job in the $15/hr. range (absolutely no benefits, but it's honest work and paid a little more than the average $10-$12/hr. jobs that he was qualified for). But we did fall behind on the mortgage payments, and the bank started foreclosure. In desperation, we had to draw funds from his IRA to keep the house. So, to make a long story short, after our "income" was figured out for the year plus what we had to pull out of the IRA plus the penalty, guess what ... the bottom line showed that not only did we owe the IRS a few thousand dollars, that amount went up because we also qualified for the AMT. So looking ahead to the coming year, somehow we have to figure out how in the world on top of all the normal monthly bills (yes, we still have the mortgage, but at least it's not in foreclosure at the moment) we are going to be able to work out paying the IRS, which I'm sure is compounding interest, etc. Also looks like, once again, because we've been trying to work our posterior's off to cover living expenses, we'll qualify for the AMT. I read various articles about the recommendations your panel will most likely be making regarding tax reform. The changes to the mortgage interest deduction will probably impact us negatively. We can't afford medical insurance (for ourselves or our two teenagers), so I guess it's good that you can't take away something I don't have to start with. I haven't read the book about the Fair Tax but I am very aware of its goals, and I do support it. The above synopsis of what our family has been dealing with should be a classic example of how the harder average people try to work to better their lot without looking for handouts from the government, the more penalized they feel when it comes to the almightly income tax base. I have to admit I'm turning into a bitter ol' baby-boomer. I'm truly tired of feeling that my middle-class taxpaying group should constantly bear the burden of the sins of the wealthy and the poor and the eliteist congregation known as politicians and their groupies. I agree 100% with several of the comments by other individuals made to this panel: enough is enough, and I will definitely be making my voice heard come election day. The Fair Tax IS something we have needed for a long, long time. You can keep all of your professional statistics ... common sense would tell you that just by expanding the base for taxation to every single individual in our country's borders, within a few short years all of our deficits could be mended. And that includes funding for social security, Medicare, natural disasters, wars, etc. I am truly ashamed that I allowed myself to believe that maybe, just maybe, this time our President and his tax reform panel would actually try to help the average, hardworking Joe. |