Why, yes I did have a baby in 2011. Thanks for asking, TurboTax.
Having determined we could provide for a growing family--and believing a mini-McKinney would enhance our lives, my husband and I made the private decision to conceive.
But, why is the government paying us for that decision this tax season?
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice bonus. But I wanted to have a baby anyway. On the other hand--if Luke and I were incapable of supporting a child apart from a tax incentive--we wouldn't have gotten pregnant. So, this few hundred (or thousand?) dollars will be given to us for...really, no reason.
I bring this up because I'm thinking about the insane American debt--the "budget crisis,"--and I hear many argue that making cuts only sounds good in theory...until someone personally feels inconvenienced by the results. Perhaps that's true. Selfish interests make budget cuts difficult. But I'm not so selfish as to demand money for a life choice like the one I made last year. This New Baby Tax Credit affects me personally, and I'm willing to sacrifice it. I honestly wouldn't holler a bit if the next President decided to eliminate the costs of paying parents for doing what parents are supposed to do: raising their own babies.
What about those energy-efficient windows we installed two summers ago? We bought them because we liked the look and we wanted to save money on future heating bills. There was no need for Uncle Sam to contribute on top of that. Also, though I believe tax increases are not the sole answer to our current problem (because taxing all citizens at 100% of their income still wouldn't sustain the government at its current spending rate), it seems a little bizarre that Luke and I have never owed Federal taxes due to our income being too low. This can be said regarding a good portion of the country. But we live here, and we enjoy the protection of the armed services, the right to vote, and the privileged title of American. I'm willing to start contributing a percentage of our earnings, provided the revenue isn't wasted on needless programs and more freedom-killing laws.
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We've heard we "can't balance the budget on the backs of college students." We can't sacrifice programs meant to help the poor, the elderly, those just-starting-out, or those representing the "99%" of the population. But where CAN we make changes?
I had a baby in 2011, and it's my job to raise her with or without the tax incentive. Let's talk specifics. Is there anything you're willing to give up?
didn't you pay federal taxes out of your/your husband's paycheck? Maybe you didn't owe any ADDITIONAL federal tax because you had enough taken out during the year - but you still contributed to the federal budget.
ReplyDeleteThe money taken out of our paycheck(s) is returned at the end of the year. That's how it works for almost half of the population. Through various deductions, most of us owe nothing... In fact, through credits (like the baby one I mention here) lots of us end up being PAID by the government.
ReplyDeleteHey Mandy...Your brother and sister qualify for free school lunches! I'm making plenty of money to buy their lunches but the Federal government supplements at such a high level we could get free lunch if we wanted it. I wonder how much tax money would be saved if we only bought lunch for people who couldn't afford it otherwise.
ReplyDeleteExactly the type of example I'm talking about. And, of course, the term "free lunch" is a misnomer. The lunches cost money, paid by taxpayers. (And I mean REAL taxpayers. Not those, like me, who only loan their money to the government until the refund check arrives.)
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