Tax Times Two

You pay taxes but do you have any idea how many people are being supported by your dollars and cents?

Most people don't even have a complete picture of how much of their hard earned money is going to in taxes. This is due to the fact that you don't sit down a write one check. You don't even see all taxes withheld from your paycheck at one time. However, taxes are, by far, the largest expenditure made out of almost every middle income and higher family budget. More than housing, food, education or anything else. In many cases, more than all of these, combined!

In fact, most working families will see anywhere from 30%-45% of their income consumed by taxes.

The list is long and the dollars start adding up quickly. One dollar earned is taxed multiple times. For example, federal tax is withheld on your wages and the same dollar is taxed for FICA. What is left is taxed again when you spend it in sales tax or gas taxes. Three government bites out of one dollar. The tax toll adds up quickly.

Federal income tax
FICA
State income tax
Local income tax
Sales and use taxes
Property taxes
Gasoline taxes
Excise taxes

What is even more sobering is to consider how many people are being supported by these tax dollars. There is no other way to describe it as other than a gigantic redistributive scheme from one person to another.

In fact, in this year's federal budget, 71% of federal spending ($2.9 trillion of $4.1 trillion) are made up of payments to individuals (payments for SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. This does not include salaries for the Armed Forces or federal employees.).

Let that sink in for a minute.  Over 70% of the total activity of the federal government today is to take money from one person and give it to someone else.  That has become the principal role of the federal government. As a recently as 1991, that percentage was less than 50%. In 1945, at the end of World War II, it was less than 3%!

Credit: Investors.com

Consider the numbers that are being supported in some way by your tax dollars at the federal, state and local levels when you look at actual people.

Civilian Federal Workers                                          2.7 million
Member of Armed Forces                                         1.3 million
Social Security Old Age & Survivor Recipients   49.2 million
Social Security Disability Recipients                    10.8 million
People on Food Stamps                                          45.8 million
People in Prisons and Jails                                      2.3 million
State, Local and Municipal Workers                     19.3 million

Add it all up...131.4 million are being supported by tax dollars in some significant way.

These numbers do not even take into account the 2.2 million people who are unemployed and receiving unemployment benefits currently.

The number who are working in the non-government work force (full and part-time) ...130.7 million.

In effect, every private sector American worker is working for themselves... and someone else.

If you wonder why your taxes are high, you now should have a better idea.

And you are told you are not paying enough?

That wagon is getting very, very heavy.