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Taxes and Christmas gifts

To the editor:

With Christmas having come and gone I wonder how many of you sat down and opened a gift only to find it contained something that already belonged to you? I am guessing not many of you because that really would not be a gift.

President Trump promised the American people a “Christmas gift” in the form of tax cuts. Sorry, Mr. President, but that money already belongs to the hard-working Americans the government took it from — so it is not a gift. The problem is we have a large percentage of the population who really believe that when the Congress passes a tax cut it is the government actually sending you money that wasn’t yours. I can’t help but think of the movie, “Christmas Vacation” where Clark tells Cousin Eddie he wants to help them give their kids a good Christmas. Eddie refuses at first then pulls out this long list of things he’d like to buy. He then tells Clark that he’d even like to get him something “really nice.” So Clark is buying his gift with his own money — much like the “gift” President Trump promised us with a reduction in tax rates. Later in that movie we see the man coming to the door and Clark is given a membership into the “jelly of the month club.” As taxpayers, we are the jelly of the month club to our government, we are the “gift that keeps on giving the whole year through.” C’mon folks, wake up and realize that the money coming back to you is yours. Quit acting like your government is doing you some big favor.

And don’t be guilt tripped into believing you are denying someone of their benefits because you get more of your money back. According to ABC News, in 2016 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that $60 billion of taxpayer money was lost to waste, fraud and abuse. In 2015, Social Security paid out $3 billion in improper payments — much of it to people who were deceased. When the government decides to do a complete audit and gets rid of statistics like this, and many like it, then perhaps they can cry about needing more money. Until then taxpayers, enjoy the small bump in your paycheck and tax refunds, and realize you are only getting back what is rightfully yours.

Wade P. Wubben

Manson

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