Via cnn.com there's a Fortune Magazine Article about "high earners" getting taxed too hard. The short summary is that people earning $250,000 plus a year are paying a heavier tax burden than the rest of us, and that they'll suffer more under upcoming tax plans.
They give us some families as examples. Some are putting more than $100,000 per year into retirement savings. Others are "pouring money" into their 401(k)s. Others are spending $50,000 per year per kid to send their kids to Cornell University.
Apparently there's hardships for each of them if their taxes go up. You know, like retiring at 57 maybe instead of 55. Or maybe making the kids pay for some of their college.
As the sole "breadwinner" in a single-income family struggling to afford good schools for our own kids, you'd think I'd have deep sympathy for their struggles.
But these are dual income families. Attourneys, CEOs, engineers, senior managers, financial planners. Families with more than $250,000 in cash savings.
The same article shows a table comparing tax burdens by income bracket. The $200-500,000 bracket they're focusing on is 2.3% of all taxpayers, but 17% of all taxes paid. They highlight that on their table. There are two lines they don't highlight. At the top of their table. 66% of all tax payers are in the under $50,000 bracket. They pay 8% of the total tax. 22% are in the 50-100,000 brakcet. That's 88% of taxpayers at 100,000 or less per year.
Take everyone above 200,000. They're 2.93% of the taxpayers. They pay 54% of all taxes. That is quite a disparity.
Do those people pay more than their "fair share"? Yeah, probably.
Do I have any sympathy for them? I don't think so. Then again, we haven't finsihed unpacking all the boxes in our living room, so I guess you never know. Not long ago I found the iron we'd been looking for for months...
I have a new car. This is a good thing. The last one (burdundy 2000 Nissan Sentra) was....
Call it a learning experience?
I shouldn't have bought the car. I shouldn't have convinced myself to take the repair money on the one before it (champaign beige 2001 Infiniti G20, AKA "MomCar") and picked up something "cheap."
Lesson One: There is no such thing as a cheap car (same applies to free kittens, of course).
Lesson Two: Never buy a low-priced car (say, under $5000?) at a little dealership.
Now, some people (Dad, for one) can buy a $500 car out of the paper, spend days getting it running right, resolve all the other quirks that come along, and keep it running for years. I... can't do that.
The Sentra had been getting more and more underpowered. By the time (Friday) I took it in to get it checked, it was having trouble hitting 65. Clogged catalytic converter past it's lifespan. Two part system with four oxygen sensors. ~$1200 or so best-case scenario. (The mechanic also didn't like the "probably junkyard" engine put in. They joked that it might have been older than the rest of the car.)
"... get a different car," they advised. I didn't really argue with them.
The car had issues.
The oil dipstick wasn't right. Dad had already had to notch it so it would actually have a full/empty line. The A/C didn't work (and wouldn't hold a recharge, so NO to the easy solution there). The radio didn't work at all (I couldn't even change the clock). Half the lights in the heat controls didn't light. Front passenger side running lights and turn signals kept dying. The driver side door seal leaked in the rain. So did the trunk. The trunk release was broken, so the trunk could only be opened by key. It had "smoked in" stench that was particularly bad when the heat was on.
Now, after they looked at it it went down hill dramatically. I couldn't get above 45 getting it home Friday night. Saturday was car shopping. We picked a cash budget to stay in. We quickly crossed out a used Prius as remotely an option.
We took the kids to two dealerships after having spent plenty of time looking online. We found ourselves comparing three Toyota Celicas. We discarded the 2005--out of budget. There was a dark blue 2000 5-speed, but we dind't get a good feel for it, disliked the dealership, and disliked the salesman.
So, the car we had last on our list, thinking it "wasn't quite it" at first (it was red and automatic. I started off wanting stick) turned out to be what we were looking for.
It's a 2003 Celica GT. We took it to the mechanic, who spent almost two hours going over it with me, pointing stuff out, giving me advice and warnings about oil. They even decided not to charge me the $50 they quoted for the inspection. (Maybe in part since I'd just paid them $50 the night before to diagnose the Sentra.)
It's not perfect. It has a ding at the rear. The hatchback leaks somewhere, leaving water pooled by the spare. (The dealer committed in writing to finding and correcting the leak, which they suspect is just a seal that needs replacing.)
It needs some fluids changed out (the trans fluid smelled burnt). It needs tires (why is it that every car I've bought for me since moving out has needed tires from the start?? The Pathfinder needed tires. The I30 needed tires. The Sentra needed tires. See the pattern here? There was an Accord that Dad found for me, that just went through alternators...)
I like it. I smile walking past it in the garage. I've never had a car that I walked past and touched and felt warm inside with that "it's MINE" feeling.
I took a break away from my desk for a few minutes today, as I try to do most days. I eat lunch at my desk while working, so a couple of ten-to-fifteen-minute walks outside isn't asking too much.
I was deep in thought, pondering (metaphysics and the balance between reason and intuition, although the mental conversation I was having isn't a subject for today...).
A snake and I startled each other. I stopped and watched as it wriggle-zipped its way under the cover of some hedges and away from my boot. It was a common garter snake, I think. He was brown and a bit pin-striped, maybe a foot and a half long, and a bit thicker than my thumb. He looked well fed.
You don't see those every day in Rosemont, so I paused stopped. "Okay, what are you trying to tell me, huh?" I asked, hands on my hips. After it didn't answer, I thought about it on my own while the traffic went by.
So what is snake medicine? What does Snake teach?
Snakes have to shed their skin--letting go of the old--to grow. In doing so, they teach us to let go of the old (especially mental) clutter and move on. It's okay to have beliefs that work for a time, and then to let them go when they just aren't needed anymore.
That's also part of the spirit of autumn. It's what the world is doing around us. Trees let go of the leaves they don't need, knowing they'll grow new ones in the spring.
Ah, but there was another event today that follows the theme. Another shedding. Jareth lost his first baby tooth today, making room for the one behind it (literally) to grow into. What more apropos time, huh?