I love pay day. It's my favorite two days of the month. Bill paying days not so much.
On the news today I learned that Illinois is raising taxes for all us working folks, and that our paychecks are going to have less money in them starting at the end of this month. I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to get ahead. Over the past couple of years I've had to pay Illinois every year when I file my income taxes. I pay 8.5% sales tax every time I buy something, and I'm sure I'm paying a plethora of other taxes to Illinois that I don't even know about. What am I getting for that? Our libraries are deeply in debt and having to close branches or layoff employees. School lunches are being cut. Social services are being cut and people who rely on the state to help them are sadly disappointed. The list of things that Illinois cannot pay for is getting longer and longer everyday.
So on one hand, I know that taxes need to be raised. How else will we get out of the billion dollars of debt we've racked up? What a vicious cycle, though. If I have less in my paycheck, that's less money I can use to purchase items. My expenses seem to increase, and my income decreases. I'm applying for a 14 hour a week part-time job to help make up the difference. At what point will things even out? At what point will the tide turn and I'll make money again? I used to be so much richer when Bill Clinton was our president. I really wish he was in charge of our economy again, blow job or not. I never went to bed and worried about losing my job or what would happen if I did. I could use some of that comfort right about now.
With this economy and the state of our country, I actually worry about these things now. I'm old enough that an income disaster will be almost impossible for me to recover from. I am holing up, clinging to everything I've got and hoping like hell that I can weather this economic storm. Everything is cyclical. I figure I need to hang on for another 15 years and the economy will be back. Then maybe I won't need to be so concerned with whether I'm spending money on luxuries or necessities.
I worry about my sons and how they are going survive this crisis. They are fighting an uphill battle and they haven't even begun the fight. My older son graduated from college in May and is doing everything he can to support himself. He wants to be a police officer, but municipalities are not hiring officers, just like they aren't hiring librarians. He works two jobs and has no money. I don't have any to give him, regrettably. My younger son is in college, so hopefully the economy will be better when he gets out of college in three years. At least he wants to go into a business that is not supported by tax dollars. Ironically, he'll probably be the wealthiest of us all -- he wants to be a tattoo artist. No matter what state the economy is in, people seem to continue getting tattoos. Lucky him!
Don't mind me -- I've been out of half-and-half for a week and I'm feeling cranky.
No comments:
Post a Comment