"We Are Tired!" (A Tax Time Diatribe)

We Are Tired

This is an open letter to those who have abused the countless social programs that we as taxpayers make possible every time you get another check; another service. We are a compassionate people. When there is a real need, we are there with real help. We've proven that in storms and fires and sickness and tragedies that cross all ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries. We are black, white, red, brown and yellow----but most of all WE ARE TIRED!

As a benevolent people, we learned with collective indignation that babies born in Mississippi were less likely to survive infancy than any other state. We took a few more hard-earned dollars from our paycheck and provided prenatal care to all those who could not afford the cost. We did that even though many other young pregnant women not on subsidy programs help pay your bills. Most stood fast to their jobs almost until the day labor pains buckled their knees. You didn't even say thank you.

And then we reached out to unwed mothers in a time of need to help make sure that precious gift of life did not have a horrific ending on some cold abortion table. We took a few more dollars from our paychecks to make sure that new child had free formula, free doctor's visit, free medication, free eyeglasses, free exams, free daycare, free pre-schooling, free public schooling and yes, even free transportation to most of those services when you could not even afford to get there. You repaid our generosity by having a second, and third, and fourth and even fifth and sixth child out of wedlock. You learned that the more babies you delivered, the more checks the government delivered to you. And with each passing generation we took a few more dollars out of our paycheck. You never said thank you.

We reached out with both hands to help free you from the chains of poverty. We paid for government agencies that seemed to multiply exponentially. Billions upon billions of dollars taken from those "pulling the wagon". We were there financing programs to train you as an adult when the education we provided you in your youth was wasted. And then we created even more government programs to find you jobs after your free training. We took a few more dollars from our paycheck to pick you up at home, take you to work, and then chauffeur you back home. As taxpayers, we could only dream of having that kind of luxury. You never said thank you.

When you were sick and not even a member of your family, your church or your friends had enough time to help, we were there to take you to a doctor with free transportation. When your illness or injury was far from an emergency, you crowded hospital emergency rooms with something as simple as a common cold. We footed the bill for you, while at the same time we did everything we could to avoid paying another medical bill of our own. You didn't even say thank you.

When you were hungry we dished out a few more dollars from our paycheck. We've done that even though the end of the money arrives in our personal checkbook a week before the end of the month. We've stayed up nights trying to balance a family budget with only insecurity and indigestion. We've watched you check out with a shopping cart full of the butcher's best, while we waited in line with an armful of cheap noodles and a bottle of generic antacids.

And to all those politicians whose mantra has been "Poverty will get them to the polls everytime." we have news for you. The sanctity of incumbency is dead. It died with the trust we put in you to spend our hard earned tax dollars in a fiscally responsible manner. It died because we're tired of seeing able-bodied loafers cheat the system, when those really in need are put through a living hell. It died because we are too tired of working too long for too little. You may consider the rampant, flagrant, embarrassing waste and fraud as just part of doing government business, but it is at our expense.

We are tired of a system that has cultivated generations of "socialized slaves". We're tired of you taking our money to pay indentured voters who are addicted to government programs. We're tired of political posturing, bickering, wheeling and dealing. We are tired of politicians using our paychecks as a social subsidy war chest for your next campaign. We are tired of your election year scare tactics and late night, back room, pension doubling maneuvers.

We don't ask for much. We ask only that the money taken from our family budget be used for its intended purpose. We ask that problems identified be problems solved not incorporated into our culture as an evolving monolithic monster. We ask those who need our dollars spend them as wisely as we would. We ask those able-bodied individuals of all creeds and colors to get your fat, flabby butt out of the wagon and do a decent day's work. We are tired of pulling your dead weight on your personal Gravy Train, while you pick your teeth from another FREE meal. And still.....you never said thank you.

And finally, let us put it as nicely as we can to all of you who continue to "work the system"- We don't mind being compassionate...BUT WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SCREWED.

Paul Gallo

---

Diatribe Archive

---

Back to Magnolia Report