Dave Ramsey

Do you listen to him? You should. My mom has been listening to him for years. We got his book "The Total Money Makeover", soon after we got married and it's really great. He's really helped us not spend as much money. Usually when Marcus wants to buy something we don't need, I say "would Dave approve?". (Not always, but usually ;). And most of the time we decide he would not approve, so we don't buy it. Which is good, because, you know, we're poor. We don't have huge amounts of debt, but he's really awesome at helping people with that, too.

Anyway, here's what he has to say about taxes.

"It was reported that 47% of taxpayers will have no tax burden this year. Just think, half of all American taxpayers will pay nothing for the public services that benefit all of us. About ten percent of tax payers pay 70% of all the taxes in this nation. Why is that? Because of envy. Envy is a bad spirit that has swept our nation. It's a sin. If you're Catholic, it is one of the seven deadly sins. I'm not Catholic, but it is a sin. Jealousy is, 'I want what you have.' Envy is worse. It is, 'I want what you have but can't see myself ever getting it, so I want you not to have it, either.' Envy is worse than jealousy. It's wanting to punish the person who has what you don't. And it is a bad spirit that has settled over this nation. Envy is what has created a tax system that is so crazy, so unjust, that 10% of all taxpayers pay 70% of all taxes in the U.S."

Now, we're some of that 47% not having to pay taxes this year. And as grateful as we are to be getting that awesome tax return (thanks Tressa), I still have to agree with Dave. Because I REALLY hope that someday we'll make enough money to not qualify for the return we're getting now. That's the plan, anyway. And when we do,I probably won't be as excited about doing taxes then.