Tax Day
Today is
the day when Uncle Sam is allowed to take a certain portion of your hard-earned income, and spend it, and spend it, and then spend some more.
From last year,
here is my April 15th entry with certain "tips" regarding the IRS. Like before, I want to once again make very clear that I am not, in any way, advocating that anyone use those ideas. That list, re-posted there from another website, is provided for entertainment purposes only.
(Note: Notice the time when I posted this entry... Very appropriate for this topic :-)
posted by Aakash at 10:40 PM
News and Views on Taxation
The latest from the think tanks...
From
CATO:
Daily Dispatch for April 15, 2004
Tax Code Kills Civil Liberties, Chris Edwards
Overhauling the Tax Code, Chris Edwards
From
Mises:
Taking from the Tax Collectors
To give to the taxpayers. Adam Young on Robin Hood. [via LewRockwell.com]
Chodorov Speaks, Gary Galles, from the Mises Blog
From
The Liberty Committee:
Taxpayers' Friend Award ~~~~ Tax Facts
From
The Conservative Caucus:
"Death and Taxes"
From the
National Taxpayers Union:
- Americans Snared in Stickier Web of Tax Complexity, Study Finds
- Despite Major Tax Cuts, Fiscal Voting Records Showed Only Minor Improvement, Non-Partisan Congressional Rating Finds
- Tax & Fiscal Information for Senator John Kerry
-
Who Pays Income Taxes? See Who Pays What!
-
NTU's 2004 Survey of Congressional Candidates
Update: A pertinent letter to the Illinois Leader -
Kerry flunks fiscally, says non-partisan group
From
Americans for Tax Reform:
TAX DAY 2004:
A New Dawn on Tax Day
From
Citizens Against Government Waste:
-
Tax Day 2004: Reduce Waste to Save Taxpayers Money
-
2004 Pig Book Identifies Record $22.9 Billion in Pork
From Citizens for a Sound Economy:
On Tax Day, A Call for Reform
On Thursday April 15th, infamously known as "Tax Day", CSE wants Congress know that it is time to Scrap the Code! CSE is rallying at post offices, distributing educational literature and Scrap the Code petitions as well as recruiting and signing up new members to join the fight for tax reform. MORE
Visit ScraptheCode.org
The Tax Man Taketh
Apr 13 - With April 15 upon us, it is fair to ask who is paying the most taxes. By Jared Pincin
Celebrate Tax Freedom Day on April 11th
Apr 9 - It's taken over three months of work for America to pay its taxes this year. By Max Pappas
Tax Reform Thursday!
Apr 7 - This Tax Day, join the movement to Scrap the Code. By Rob Jordan
Via
TownHall.com:
Tax Foundation: Americans celebrate earliest Tax Freedom Day since 1967
"Federal tax cuts have made the average American tax burden lighter in 2004," said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge.
Heritage Foundation:
- A Tax Code Report Card
- Fixing a Broken Tax System
- The Silver Lining of Tax Day 2004
Of Cutting & Spending and Sneakers & Pills -- Three Years of Tax Cuts Boosts American Buying Power, Frontiers of Freedom
A Taxing Meditation, Pacific Research Institute
Stop the (Tax) Madness, OpinionEditorials.com
You've paid your taxes. Here’s where the money’s going, National Review
posted by Aakash at 10:38 PM
Sorry for the Misunderstanding
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. One blogger who, in electronic communcations I've had with him, has said that he's flattered by what I've said about him and his work, is
Josh Claybourn.
JC.com is one of the first blogs that I came across around the time that I started my blog, during the Fall 2002 semester. I do not know of any other collegiate blogger who is as prolific and insightful as he; his frequency and quality of blogging is amazing, as many of us have observed. I have said before that what Josh has been doing is inspirational, and I'm not the only one who feels this way - check out
this blog entry by Joshua Price.
While imitation
may be "the sincerest form of flattery," one has to be careful when using it... If we don't manage things right, it might have some bad consequences. This is what I'm afraid may have happened with regard to my previous blog entry (the one for
April 1st). I got the idea to write that post from
Mr. Claybourn's April 1st entry from one year ago. In my entry, I linked to that pertinent post of his, about how he was "reporting from Kuwait." After I got an e-mail from a friend this past Friday, regarding my entry, I added a wink smilie ;-) and that parenthetical part to it - I got the "Kuwait Towers" idea from Josh's post, but I added something about the "Kuwait Mountains" as well.
It was then that I found that a couple of bloggers had featured and linked to that entry of mine (below), and that made me feel guilty. I didn't intend for so many people to believe that news, and for some to feature it on their blogs. To find out the reality behind Josh's entry from April 1st of last year, in which he said that he was blogging from Kuwait, check out
Josh's entry from the following day - April 2nd, 2003. What he wrote there also pertains to my entry below, from April 1st of this year.
I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding and confusion that this has caused. One thing that made it tricky is that Josh recently added a columnar advertisement to his blog, which runs down the right side of every page in it. Because of that tall ad that's now alongside
his April 1st, 2003 entry, which I referred to in my entry below, you can't see the comments at that entry of his, unless you scroll down.
Those comments would have provided a clue as to the nature of his entry, and of mine as well. I added that thing about the "Kuwait Towers," and the "Kuwait Mountains," to my entry below, but that apparently didn't give it away to many people.
[Note: I didn't realize that there really are "Kuwait Towers"... And the "Kuwait Mountains" may be for real as well... Oops.]
Once again, I am sorry about what happened; I tried to emmulate a master, but I fumbled his pass. I was
IMing with Josh yesterday, lamenting this situation... When he had seen my April 1st entry earlier, he knew it wasn't for real, but alas, he may have been the only one.
By the way: I have, in fact, been to Kuwait once before, but that was just at the airport, in the mid-1980s, on a stop to somewhere else. But I am not going to be there this semester... I am actually doing my
A.S.T. in the office of my state representative... Not as exciting, but much more feasible. I would, however, like to visit the Middle East again someday.
If anyone is mad at me because of the April 1st joke below, I am sorry... And besides:
It's all his fault!
;-)
posted by Aakash at 12:03 AM
Personal News for Today
I have
mentioned before at this blog the need for me to find an A.S.T. (
Applied Study Term), a program requirement for graduation from UIS.
I was offered a couple of positions from state and federal elected officials, and I was going to choose one of them. However, I have now decided to do my A.S.T. overseas, in the kingdom of Kuwait, where I will be doing "public affairs reporting," and studying the situation there, and learning first-hand about what's going on in the Middle East. And of course, I will hopefully be blogging from there as well.
Note: I got the idea to do this from fellow collegiate conservative blogger, Josh Claybourn...
See his pertinent entry from one year ago.
;-)
(Like Josh, I would like to visit the Kuwait Towers, but I'd like to perhaps see the Kuwait Mountains as well...)
posted by Aakash at 7:34 PM
