Oh, We Pay Alright

In this age of afflicting the poor and comforting the rich — a favorite pastime of the tea partiers and the new Republican Party they’ve helped shape — there’s a popular myth making the rounds on the Internet that nearly half of working Americans don’t pay taxes, and isn’t that an outrage?

...But the truth is that every working American pays taxes. Before they even get a chance to cash their paychecks, 6.2 percent has been deducted for Social Security and another 1.45 percent for Medicare. (This year the Social Security payroll tax for everyone has been temporarily lowered to 4.2 percent as part of President Obama’s stimulus program.)

In other words, they’re contributing just as big a percentage of their income to the two major federal budget programs as do the CEOs of major corporations. In fact, because people don’t pay Social Security taxes on income over $106,800, the poor actually pay a higher percentage than the wealthy.

Everyone also pays sales taxes, property taxes if they own property or indirectly if they rent, gasoline taxes to build those roads Bachmann thinks they’re driving on for free, and fees to visit national parks and license their cars, just for starters.
~ from It’s a Lie That Working Poor Don’t Pay Taxes by Dave Zweifel ~

There's an area just west of South Bend that is made up of fields and [mosquito] ponds. For years, it's been a popular place for area residents to take their dogs on a run. The dogs can run down the trails and romp in the brackish water, while the people can take in the scenic beauty and birdwatch.

I've noticed over the past 2 or 3 months that I rarely see humans and canines in that area anymore. My wife and I have been puzzled as to why this once-popular spot is no longer popular. We discovered the reason a few days ago.

The land is owned by some state agency and, as of July 1, you now have to pay either a $10 daily fee or a $35 yearly fee to tromp through the weeds and muck!! It is because the state budget is so ravaged and the fund for state lands has been so decimated that the state is now charging residents to utilize supposedly PUBLIC land.

Of course, politicians call this new charge a fee, not a tax, but it's just semantics. The poor and middle class are drowning in taxes and fees. We have to pay and pay and pay for almost anything we want to do, including going to a state park for a picnic with the family!