Visualize No Income Tax!

Quick, if you're lucky enough to still have one, grab your pay stub from your last paycheck and find the box labeled, "FED INCOME TAX WITHHELD," (words may vary slightly, but it's the amount the IRS withholds from your paycheck.), draw a line through that number, then add to the "NET PAY" amount. You know, the bottom line...the final amount you actually received after the various bureaucratic alphabet soups get their share. So, close your eyes and imagine receiving that amount on your next pay check. How do you feel? I know, wipe that stupid look off of your face, and let's get back to reality.

Impossible, right? Not so fast! Do you realize that for the "Stimulus" plan that the President just signed, we could have almost completely eliminated the entire federal income tax burden. I'm looking at the new President's federal budget, and the amount the of total personal federal income tax is $972 billion (2009). Wasn't the "Porkulus" bill almost $900 billion and over $1 trillion (think lots of zeros), with interest. The amounts virtually match, or at least, close enough for government work. Shoot, that's without even adding the bank bailouts, omnibus, etc.

Instead of maxing out our kid's credit cards with "Ridiculous Democraticus Spendulus, Porkulus, like over a million bucks for mosquito trapping in Florida, and $1,700,000 for swine odor (was this just a porky pun?), the government could have basically allowed us to keep 100% of that amount deducted from our paychecks. I'm not advocating going into further government debt to accomplish this, but hey, if they're going to do it, at least really make it stimulative. That would do it. That would be significant "change" and would give the country "hope," and it would be immediate. The President's piddly rebate will go largely unnoticed by most Americans and is only window-dressing to season the pork.

Can you imagine what would happen to the nation's productivity?
Imagine having that extra money each paycheck. If you get paid weekly, multiply that number by 52, and that's the extra money you'd have each year to spend, invest, save, or pay down debt (all good). And, at least you would have control of where the money went. Do you have confidence that amount is being prudently appropriated now?

Start looking at that federal tax withholding box each paycheck and think about the current crop of politicians in Washington, D.C. Do you trust them with your money?

If not, what are you going to do about it?