I don't think there is a good argument for why you should get more of my money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Honestly, I am not the PP but I too went to college, as my spouse did, using loans, jobs, etc. We are paying full freight for our own children, as we should, because we ARE successful. Why are we the "bad guys" because of this?

Who called you a bad guy? You are only asked to do your share. Feds got a pay freeze. You are getting a hike in taxes. Suck it up. I'm not saying you deserve it any more than I deserved the pay freeze. It is what it is.

The point you missed was 08 and 09 I paid for your raises while I got none. Some colleagues got even less - I was fortunate. Why should I suck it up and do more now when you skated for the last 3 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I could say the exact same things that you have said in your post (except for law school). We both studied hard, we both work hard, paid our way and were never given a thing - not by our parents, or by society as a whole, other than opportunity. We make good money. Less than half of what you make, but we're happy with that. And we still feel like we would happily pay more in taxes if that meant better education for kids and better and more affordable healthcare for families. Yes, even others' kids and others' families. It's just a matter of priorities.

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Where the heck to you live? Do you have a mortgage? Student loans? House maintenance? Please let me in on your secret!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I could say the exact same things that you have said in your post (except for law school). We both studied hard, we both work hard, paid our way and were never given a thing - not by our parents, or by society as a whole, other than opportunity. We make good money. Less than half of what you make, but we're happy with that. And we still feel like we would happily pay more in taxes if that meant better education for kids and better and more affordable healthcare for families. Yes, even others' kids and others' families. It's just a matter of priorities.

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Where the heck to you live? Do you have a mortgage? Student loans? House maintenance? Please let me in on your secret!

Me too - or some of what you are drinking or smoking! Or maybe you are a poster that doesn't live in DC?

[Anonymous]

The point you missed was 08 and 09 I paid for your raises while I got none. Some colleagues got even less - I was fortunate. Why should I suck it up and do more now when you skated for the last 3 years?
[Report Post]

Life isn't fair, honey. Put on your big girl pants and deal with it. You have to suck it up because congress is going to pass a tax increase on you. The middle class supports it, and the 600K feds in this area support it because they just had their pay froze to "do their part." Most private sector people will support it because they've been doing their part for several years now. So, welcome to the "it isn't fair" club. How do you like it so far?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I could say the exact same things that you have said in your post (except for law school). We both studied hard, we both work hard, paid our way and were never given a thing - not by our parents, or by society as a whole, other than opportunity. We make good money. Less than half of what you make, but we're happy with that. And we still feel like we would happily pay more in taxes if that meant better education for kids and better and more affordable healthcare for families. Yes, even others' kids and others' families. It's just a matter of priorities.

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Where the heck to you live? Do you have a mortgage? Student loans? House maintenance? Please let me in on your secret!

22:07 here. We live in Falls Church, and yes to all of the above (although minimal student loans). No big secret. We live within our means. No big house (=small mortgage), no fancy cars, no high-tech gadgets (we both have the phones that come free with our plan), we cook our own meals (mostly), clean our own home, the kids will be going to public school and they will be just fine. We save for retirement and college, probably won't be able to retire early or send the kids to top schools without some scholarships, but I'm sure wherever they'll end up they will do great. We're not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I would also never ever complain of not having enough. We have more than enough. Maybe coming from a modest background makes a difference when it comes to our perception of what is "doing well".

[Anonymous]

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Where the heck to you live? Do you have a mortgage? Student loans? House maintenance? Please let me in on your secret!

Me too - or some of what you are drinking or smoking! Or maybe you are a poster that doesn't live in DC?

I live in Burke. We did have student loans, but we bought our first house when we were just married, in 2001. We sold it for a huge profit in 2004, used part of the profit for the downpayment on a bigger townhouse and paid off all our student loans in full. We bought a smaller house than we could afford, I guess - the bank was willing to give us a mortgage for several hundred thousand more, but we knew we were planning to have kids, that daycare costs over $1K per month per kid, and we didn't want to be house poor. We also used some of the profit from our first house to really snazz up this place, so maintenance costs have been non-existent (knock on wood). In any case, we have 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, so I don't feel like we need anything bigger. We also don't drive crazy expensive cars - I have a corolla and my husband has a sonata. We don't shop at high end stores - our clothes come from Target, Kohls, LOFT, Gap, etc.

I'm not saying we come home and go swimming in our rooms of money every night or anything like that. But we want for nothing.

I don't want to come off as acting like I have some secret or something - I just think we ran into some luck. I also have a husband that is kind of a freakish squirrel who socks away money into savings like crazy.

[Anonymous]

PP here - I am the 22:12 poster (the Burke one).

[Anonymous]

22:07 here. We live in Falls Church, and yes to all of the above (although minimal student loans). No big secret. We live within our means. No big house (=small mortgage), no fancy cars, no high-tech gadgets (we both have the phones that come free with our plan), we cook our own meals (mostly), clean our own home, the kids will be going to public school and they will be just fine. We save for retirement and college, probably won't be able to retire early or send the kids to top schools without some scholarships, but I'm sure wherever they'll end up they will do great. We're not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I would also never ever complain of not having enough. We have more than enough. Maybe coming from a modest background makes a difference when it comes to our perception of what is "doing well".
[Report Post]

I do think that part (but not all) of it is living within your means. I have sooooo many friends that drive really high end vehicles that I'm not sure they should afford. For example, my sister is unmarried and makes about $70K per year. She drives a fully loaded mercedes SUV. Gorgeous vehicle, but holy crap. Her car payment is probably close to my mortgage payment! Different strokes for different folks, I guess. She always complains about being strapped for cash, living paycheck to paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: There are people poorer than us who work much harder, guaranteed.

ITA. Hard work is very admirable, and you should be very proud of yourself and your husband. Absolutely. But there is always an element of luck involved. Where you were born, how intelligent you are, your physical condition, your mental health status, what opportunities you had, etc. Not everyone has that, or ever will.

FWIW, I don't think anyone wants to "level the playing field." I think liberals want to have at least a minimal social safety net for those who cannot adequately make it on their own, regardless of how little or how much they may work.

[Anonymous]

People should start treating the tax laws the same way illegal immigrants treat the immigration laws. stop paying them. Do everything in cash or barter. It would be so easy to bring the government to its knees. They can't keep track of all the people at once. Make the ask nicely for each penny we decide to contribute. This is where it all leads...lock and load!

[Anonymous]

You made the most of the advantage you had in being born to parents with solid middle-class values as DH and I did. But to pretend that you did not have significant advantages is to kid yourself. Have you thought of what life would be like if people in our country did not have to go bankrupt due to medical emergencies or die prematurely when they cannot pay? Do you really think these people just did not work hard enough? Do you think everyone can be an attorney or doctor? Do you want the teachers who educate your children not to work hard because they will never earn what you do? I don't think you owe anyone another cent but do not look for my sympathy or support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year more than ever, there is no political party for me. I believe strongly in so many ideas that are considered "liberal" - I believe gays should be able to get married, that a woman should have the right to choose to have an abortion, and in strict gun control laws. But I do not see a rational convincing argument for why I should pay more in taxes. Last year we paid 120k in taxes. HHI around 460k.
I cannot see how anyone can say that is not enough.
Yes, we make a lot of money. We make a lot of money because we work hard and always have. We worked hard starting in high school and basically never stopped. Studied harder than most everyone else to go to good colleges and good law schools. Busted our asses at big law firms for years. DH continues to bust his ass at said law firm and I have a more flexible part time job in exchange for a pay cut. But no one has ever given us anything. We paid for law school, and some of college, ourselves. DH worked a full time job all through college to help pay his way. Our parents were not wealthy. DH is from a very modest background. My family was more well-off than his, but I still worked starting at age 14 to help out. We have both always worked - mcdonalds, grocery stores - you name it, we have done it.
The financial success we now have is attributable to hard work. Not luck and not handouts. I did not complain about the 120k last year. I understand the philosophy behind a progressive income tax. But, at some point, haven't we given more than our fair share? Are we not entitled to reap the benefits of what we have achieved?

So what do you feel would be a reasonable percentage of tax for you to pay? What about someone making a million a year? Ten million?

I'm a pretty well off, educated, hard working,, single mom, white woman. My parents grew up in poverty. I think everyone should have the same opportunities I did. So I don't mind paying 25 to 33% in taxes. I live like a king. Do you have any idea how much better off you are than 99% of the humans who have ever walked the earth???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I could say the exact same things that you have said in your post (except for law school). We both studied hard, we both work hard, paid our way and were never given a thing - not by our parents, or by society as a whole, other than opportunity. We make good money. Less than half of what you make, but we're happy with that. And we still feel like we would happily pay more in taxes if that meant better education for kids and better and more affordable healthcare for families. Yes, even others' kids and others' families. It's just a matter of priorities.

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Are you an alien from outer space who just happened to find DCUM? I completely agree with you but this is so not a DCUM response, I wonder if I am in a parallel univrse.

Good for you PP, you are inspiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, I could say the exact same things that you have said in your post (except for law school). We both studied hard, we both work hard, paid our way and were never given a thing - not by our parents, or by society as a whole, other than opportunity. We make good money. Less than half of what you make, but we're happy with that. And we still feel like we would happily pay more in taxes if that meant better education for kids and better and more affordable healthcare for families. Yes, even others' kids and others' families. It's just a matter of priorities.

This!! I could have written this! I think our HHI is probably around $220K, but we both grew up in lower-middle class in the midwest. We honestly don't even know what to do with all our money now, and we have two kids in daycare, a house, two cars, retirement savings, college savings for the kids, etc. We are just so blessed. I look some years at what we pay in taxes and realize it is more than my parents even earn combined in a single year. The number seems big, but I really don't mind. I would pay more, too, if it meant others would get more basic services.

Are you an alien from outer space who just happened to find DCUM? I completely agree with you but this is so not a DCUM response, I wonder if I am in a parallel univrse.

Good for you PP, you are inspiring.

There are more of us thrifty midwesterners out there.

Is the idea of giving more in taxes so insane? We give money to charity. We heroize and honor people who fight for our country and die for our country. If our country is worth dying for, why is it so unfathomable to contribute money to it, especially for those of us who have more than we need?

[Anonymous]

LOL - Yes, I am an alien of sorts