My advice for those who die, declare the pennies on your eyes~ George Harrison 'Taxman'

Today is tax day once again and for the first time EVER, I owed Uncle Sam money. Not a whole lot, about the price of a really nice dinner out with wine, dessert and a tip, but still I was pissed off at first because I am soooo middle class and as everybody knows the middle class are the ones that get stuck with the bills.

I got hit at the 25% rate, filing as a single Head of the Household. The Bushes are paying about 27.7 on their adjusted gross income of $822,126.

Of course they have 2 houses and kids in college.

The Cheneys, on the other hand, are only paying at the 12.7% rate and they made more money this year than the Bush and Travis family put together. This is about the same rate that a single mom working at Wal-Mart has to pay.

So I was cranky when I wrote out my check for $230 and mailed it off. Ken reminded me the other day that without our tax dollars, the war would not be happening. Ken said in one of his unique turns of a phrase --'these wolves can't run without everyone's scraps of meat.'

I know that there are organizations out there that will show you how to earmark your tax $$$$ just for non-violent causes, but to do that appears to involve more paperwork than Cheney�s team of tax lawyers had to file out to get him that 12.7% rate.

And besides, I have seen the inside of the Leavenworth Federal Prison and it ain�t for me.

And besides again, whenever I want to complain about paying taxes, I always feel better when I see Ramon smile. Not because I love him and his smile warms my heart. No, it�s because Indian Health Services completely rebuilt his mouth with crowns and veneers. It�s a dazzling, Tom Cruise-like smile!

Your tax dollars at work

But even more important than Hawk�s million dollar smile is that paying my taxes is like voting. I participate in the democracy, I'm paying for it and that buys me a license to bitch�..

And I am determined to get my money�s worth

And don't forget to check out our alternate universe The pictures are prettier.

1 People have told Dr JJ all about it