tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689838439428844486.post4757045860962657107..comments2024-03-15T20:15:34.428+13:00Comments on ξενος: Turkish bath for the soulUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689838439428844486.post-74452332639867350462010-04-18T08:16:09.854+12:002010-04-18T08:16:09.854+12:00Approximately 50% of US wage earners are not going...Approximately 50% of US wage earners are not going to pay Federal taxes this year due to special incentives and credits designed to get the economy moving. Structurally, I've seen figures along the lines of 25% to 30% in "normal" times.<br /><br />I came back to the US in August 2009 after 23 years abroad (2 in Belgium and 21 in the UK); I currently have a part-time, minimum-wage job on which I will owe no Federal income taxes. When I was in High School in the 1970s, I had a part-time, minimum-wage job and I DID pay Federal income taxes.<br /><br />I do not understand this wide-spread narrative of the Federal government sucking the life-blood out of the tax-payers. In the US, "individual freedom" seems to increasingly mean "I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want, to whomever I want if I have the power to do so." Blech.PamBGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11324370506889227234noreply@blogger.com