Can We All Just Get a Tax Break?

I'm getting that middle class angst again and it is creeping up on my husband too. The feeling of never getting a break in this world, especially when it comes to taxation. Our tax returns are due a month from now and I am dreading the process as usual. There, I have admitted that I haven't started. At least I can stop wishing I worked for AIG since the House passed a bill to tax their tainted bonuses at a rate of 90% though 10% of $1,000,000 is still $100,000 which is pretty much all I need to set my world straight. I am at least willing to work for the money if someone would give me a job. It can be part-time, temporary, contract or whatever; I'd be happy for some work.

But, in the meantime, I will stew about the fact that I am not making any money and remain ineligible for unemployment. Alas my tax dollars are going to work to bailout the Wall Street rich and the Main Street poor, anyone who was fiscally irresponsible or simply cannot afford their share. I, on the other hand, am left to do the "right" thing; reduce my expenses. I am thankful that I was lucky enough not to have a privileged life so I can survive no matter how lean the times. Too bad, the state, the municipalities and the school districts have few plans to reduce their expenditures in any significant manner that would reduce my taxes.

The fact that the tax rolls and government spending have grown exponentially over the last decade remains off the table. State and municipal governments are attempting to hold the budget line at the current levels (and for this we are supposed to be grateful.) Long Islanders/New Yorkers have been screaming for years about the high tax rates so holding budgets at current levels is holding them at levels that are already too high.

School budgets are coming up on the block again but districts will make few changes this year because of the stimulus funds that the state received. What about next year? I just feel like they are delaying the inevitable. Before the stimulus funds arrived, the pressure was rising on lawmakers to make some serious cuts and the special interest groups were out in force, placing ads and commercials to gain public sympathy and protect their interests from cuts. Now that stimulus funds are arriving, the urgency has dissipated, unfortunately.

Local Governments and School Districts should start getting real right now before the crisis of next year. There won't be any extra funds next year. I am pretty sure. If the value of our assets and the state of the financial world is re-setting to the beginning of the decade so should all budgets adjust accordingly. It just makes sense.