Times are tough all over

[smoothmoniker]

Originally Posted by classicman

ME! Therein lies the problem - no matter who gets elected, I am the one paying for their promises. As a hardworking and productive member of society, I get to pay for the promises these guys make.

Ditto. I make in the mid-high 100k range, and because most of it is self-employed income, my annual tax nut is around 40k.

Yes, I know that I play music and I'm not out laying concrete or picking produce, but if anyone thinks you get to that level of income in the music industry without working your ASS off, I'd invite you to ride along with me for a week or two.

Every gig, every session, every arrangement or orchestration I write, every week on the road touring, every class I teach, it's all time spent away from my family and kids. When I drop into bed exhausted at 3am, and hustle out the door at 8am, that's a real cost to me and my family.

I'm not complaining, I'm glad to do it and I'm blessed to be able to do it. But I get viciously angry when people assume that once people have reached some arbitrary income point, they are no longer "earning it", and therefore its perfectly fine to take away their income to redistribute it elsewhere.

I pay a metric assload of taxes, and I pay it out of money that I earn, and because there's no withholding on my paychecks, I'm the one who actually writes the check to the IRS and feels the kick in the balls every time.