Enduring yet another taxing situation this year

So, we have until Tuesday of next week to fi le state and federal tax returns — three days more than usual — because the 15th and Ides of April are tomorrow, and we shouldn’t have to taint an otherwise glorious, spring Saturday waiting in line at the post o ce.

OK, I know there are other ways to accomplish the odious annual tax-fi ling burden than having to go in person and drop the papers o at the nearest USPS facility. I’ve done it numerous di erent ways mostly clear cut and above board. A few have been a tad on the i y spectrum, but I’ve generally given them up in favor of clear cut and above board. It’s no longer worth the alternative.

It never was a question of refusing to pay taxes in opposition to “government” in the abstract or even in the specifi c. Most times it was because we weren’t very organized and didn’t get around to meeting the deadline on time ... or didn’t have enough cash on hand to cover what we owed.

The solution then was to acquire and work on the documents, scrounge up the relevant receipts, put them somewhere safe, forget them and fi le for one or more threemonth extensions.

Easy. Simple. Legal. Worry about it in July or October, whichever came later. Unfortunately, if you owe something it’s still due on the 15th or a couple days after, like this year.

I’m good with paying my fair share for aid to Ukraine and support for friends and allies. And I’m good with paying my fair share for many of those in need at home and around the world. You could call me a globalist (small g).

National security is important to me as it is to most of us. And although I cringe when I hear the cost of Patriot missiles, nuclear submarines, combat arms and equipment, MREs and jet fuel, I trust that enough of our on-duty civilian and military folk are looking out for our interests and doing their jobs the best they can. And they should be paid accordingly and proudly by us.

I don’t begrudge the less fortunate among us and wish we as a society could and would do more for them.

Having worked in more than one local public social-educational system, I know theres are always careless practices along with wasteful programs and operations. Regardless of their fl aws and defects, however, I’ve never been directly aware of or harmed by misguided or misapplied human error.

On the other hand, a few incidents in recent days have virtually pushed me into rethinking my optimistic view of government. The federal judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, who ruled to ban the sale of and access to mifepristone and related medications has stepped way beyond the boundaries of fair jurisprudence. How dare one government functionary make universal life and death decisions that could directly impact more than half of this country’s population.

Not so far away and north of Texas, the Republican majority in the Tennessee State Legislature voted to expel two young fi rst-year representatives. They are Black and broke some traditional protocols in the government center while protesting gun violence in general. Gloria Johnson (not Black), Justin Pearson and Justin Jones were joined by hundreds of local students who had conducted formal and widespread school-walkouts that day. Johnson, Jones and Pearson admitted befouling the House’s “decorum” when they challenged colleagues openly with bullhorns and raised fi sts in the wake of the murders of three 9-year-old kids and three sta members in a nearby Nashville elementary school. Johnson was not expelled, as I noted, she is not Black.

The grotesque assault on democracy by Kacsmaryk and the Tennessee Republican legislators puts me in mind of Arlo Guthrie’s classic ’60s anti-war adventure “Alice’s Restaurant.” Guthrie said “If you want to end war and s**t, you gotta sing loud.” I think Arlo would consider updating his poetry to better refl ect 2023.

Chris Daley is a biweekly columnist for the Mountain Democrat.