The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I hate the off season

It’s better to argue as amicably possible about the small stuff and meet your mate halfway most of the time on the big stuff, than let it fester.

My parents never argued, then one day they just up and totally split.  Came back together half a year later and things got mostly back to normal, but the cost on my brother and me was pretty huge.  That whole era was pretty effed up, family wise.

My wife and I get mad at each other  and we talk it out sometimes pretty heatedly, but we never go to bed mad (even if we have to stay up half the night) and don’t replay “the old tapes”. We truly just forget it.  Cos none of it is ever really important.  Particularly when you step back. 

i don't mind one bit paying taxes- that's not the point... we live well, as American's, and i appreciate that enough to hand over earnings without a momentary pause.  what i begrudge is the waste fraud and abuse- which i see first hand everyday.  i begrudge the layers of complication that don't need to exist, which favors those with the resources to exploit them.  i begrudge the politician who increases their net worth 'serving' the public and being paid with tax dollars, and when speaking of congressmen/women, that is an average of over 1000% a career.  I begrudge taxes, once translated into federal public funds, being held over the head of states and municipalities in a quid pro quo, in effort to exact the will of a distant federal bureaucracy when the collection of those funds have no such strings attached nor the purpose for their collection having anything to do with the demands to qualify for expenditure.... 

but for the charters and purpose of state and federal government?  I don't begrudge taxes one little bit- i'm more than happy to pay my way.  

i was once audited... my ex wife, whom filed jointly and the year of our divorce, had cashed out a stock w/o mentioning it (so it wasn't filed that year). $10k.  

the IRS came full force demanding $4k in total taxes from that 1099 distribution- as if the distribution was pure profit or something falling out of the sky into my lap... of course i fought it, and after demonstrating the distribution was liquidating an original investment of over $11k (showing loss) they ended up adjusting my total tax bill that year and refunding me a bit over $300.  Now had i not had the frame of mind to not hit the freak button, they'd have gotten me for $4k.  A lot of people would have done that-especially with the agent i was dealing with that was a total abrasive jerk- operating far above their station so far as i'm concerned. 

i once filed taxes incorrectly one year- and didn't catch the mistake until the following year while preparing, and realized i'd left over $1k on the table.  good luck collecting that, right? that's what i was told.  

so here is my issue, with those two items in mind: I (bold 'I') prepared my taxes in both instances. in both instances there were mistakes.  in one instance, the gubber was shorted, and they were quick to respond.  in the other, they were benefited, and short of filing an amended return and using an arbitrator to have that return corrected, i wasn't getting a penny of it.  the question being begged, here, is: "if they know what your taxes should be, and they are in possession of all the documentation already and with the luxury of databases and profiles, why aren't we just billed?"... the answer to that is present, in my humble opinion, in the class action law suit settled by turbotaxes and HR Block, where they admitted to building the mechanisms of their tax applications with a heavy favor toward the government- it's a business- the government makes a mint off of folks not correctly filing their taxes, or who don't reach for the deductions they rate for fear of retribution.  but for that lawsuit, i'd guess it just a complicated issue with no easy solution- but they (all parties) knew damn well while cooperating with each other and constructing those applications to ease tax preparation, what they were doing.  

it's in that vane and with that in mind that i take pride in digging deep into the files to find every deduction available.  the separation between your thoughts, @CharleyHorse46 , (though i don't know they're your thoughts for certain- but they could be based on your posts) and mine is that i don't believe the government to be fair or honest, where as it would appear you might. 

i think they 'used' to be.  i don't think they are anymore.  it didn't happen overnight, in my opinion, but has been sliding down that slope for at least two generations.  

the system in place is built for fair and honest.  just like locks on a door, though, its purpose is to deter honest people from making mistakes- and by being built by honest people, it doesn't take into account how those willing and actively seeking loopholes think.... 

this could be said about a lot of government programs.  take the family of 'welfare' programs- in my opinion each of those are good in nature, and ought to be regarded more highly than they are... but also in my opinion it isn't the program that is the problem but abuse of the program instead- which means the program draws fire from those that oppose people ripping off and making off with tax dollars.... the case of this is not so simple that the simpleton can accurately say "abolish the program", but it isn't so complicated that someone with even slight understanding of human nature realizes it is being exploited by people lacking integrity and having bad intentions. 

in my line of work, i see purchases made through various Programs, and then i see those purchases wasted in clever ways- though the 30% middle man fee is rarely wasted, but goes to executives or managers in the form of bonus.  I've seen people in positions of authority create GS jobs out of the clear blue ether when preparing to retire, and then bid them out- just to walk back into the same building they retired from on Friday, and assuming their 'new' role on Monday, sans the uniform- in a job/position 'tailor cut' for their talents, and usually above the grade of GS13.  i literally watched a multi-BILLION dollar contract which was supposed to bring function mandated by congress over a period of five years be fleeced of 90+% in the very first year, and by 'think-tanks' who were formed to figure out how to do it... actually performing that 'job' are the peons who arrive after the first period of performance.. leaving them with morsels to do the job, and finding it could be done at the rate of crumbs instead of the original cost(already paid).. and this seems the norm not the exception (maybe not such a rich contract in each instance, but still worthwhile)- companies take the funds and milk it, and bounce before the product is due.  the waste is astounding.  it's absolutely astounding.  most recently, i watched a contract bid (and award) with 12 people indicated as 'key positions' by name.  Each of those positions carried qualifications of 'PhD' or 'Masters' with 10+ yeas of experience in specific roles- except for one role, that is, which was #3 on the totem, and carried an annual salary of $170k+, and which may as well been a resume of the most worthless person in the company (insofar as job performance or function) and which had the requirement of "high school diploma or equiv".... these are things i've seen with my own two eyes.  this is but the tip of the iceberg and without speaking specifics.... hell, i was once given the choice to be fired or 'drop it' when presenting a way to save the customer (government) several million and perform a task better- and still haven't been in the good graces of my employer since- because? "running your(my) mouth will cost us the difference in 100's of thousands in profit based on the 30% cut- they don't need to know what they don't know".  

there is something to bring this full circle... 

i hate cronyism... i'd much prefer a merit system with little regard to much else.  and, if i may be so bold.... i'd love to see a full out audit of not only federal jobs, but federal contractors and elimination of dead-weight roles with great impunity and extreme prejudice (not in a racial sort of way). 

and I hate it that most citizens feel this way about our government

I do agree with Charley, it's the best we have and probably as good or better than other governments across the globe

I'm not happy about people that don't pay their obligations

regardless if it's a tax issue or a bankruptcy issue or otherwise

I'd much rather have a beer with someone on welfare and pay for their suds than someone living in a house 4 times the size of mine that cheats the tax code and defaults on the loan for the fancy vehicles, toys and house, even if they were picking up the tab at the bar.