It started with wanting to buy a Beta fish with his own money. As he started adding up all the costs trying to see if he had enough, I reminded him to include the tax.
As it turned out, tax made it a little out of his budget, so super mom stepped in and saved the day.
Once we got in the car, the deep discussion began.
Keep in mind, he’s 7.
T: “Mom, taxes are what the government takes from us so they have money, right?”
S: “Basically, yes.”
T: “Man, I wish I was the government. Then I would have soooo much money. I bet they probably have trillions of dollars.”
S: “Well, Taylor. The government isn’t just one person, it’s a whole lot of people who use that money to build schools, bridges, signs, roads…all the stuff we’re seeing right now is paid for with our taxes. So, it’s not like they just pocket the money.”
T: “Oooooh, I see. So they don’t get to keep it all… But still, they must have so much money!! I guess being in the government must be a very important job.”
S: “It is. Unfortunately, though, they don’t have any money really. Our country is trillions of dollars in debt. The government keeps spending money they don’t have and then having to borrow it, so now they owe a whole lot of money and it just keeps getting worse.”
Silence.
From Taylor…
“Mom. That seems like a REALLY big problem! What is the President going to do to fix this?”
S: “Well, he’s raising taxes….and then continuing to spend money we don’t have.”
T: “What the heck is he spending it on? Doesn’t he know he shouldn’t spend money he doesn’t have???”
S: “That’s a really good question, and one a lot of people want to know. But the truth is, we don’t know where he’s spending it all.”
Silence.
From Taylor…
“This is exactly why I wanted Mitt Romney to win.”
© 2012 “Le Musings of Moi”
