Tax Man Cometh

I finished our taxes and made the copies and mailed them off.  But I'm still mad.  We crossed leaped over some imaginary line this year.  Our tax liability went up 33%!!  I looked and figured it again.  But it's right.  We are not complaining about our standard of living, but I wonder about the sudden difference since nothing really changed financially in our lives this year.  Nor even last year. Captain has received a cost-of-living 3% raise every summer for the past several years.  It doesn't seem right that we are paying for so many people not to work, not to farm, not to pay for their own lunch/library/bus/insurance/anything for their kids, and that is on top of our planned giving/tithing.  Oh, I know the problems are more complex than any simple across-the-board cuts could solve.  But I wonder how we can re-teach entire generations to take more personal responsibility?