Something doesn’t seem right here.

We the people. National average income: The national average salary in the U.S. in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.1

Public Servant. How much does a Federal Employee make?

As of Jul 24, 2024, the average annual pay for a Federal Employee in the United States is $106,462 a year.

Greek Holiday –

Suppose I told you we went to Poros, Greece. And, we got sick. And, our tour director suddenly arranged for a cab to take us to the Greek doctor. And, Susan was diagnosed with bronchitis, And, I was diagnosed with sinus infection. The doctor also lanced an infected finger Susan had. And the bill was EU190 and I had EU70 and the doctor didn’t take credit cards. We had left the resort so fast that I had not gotten all my money and cards. I left the doctor headed to the pharmacy next door to drop off the prescriptions and to the bank ATM to get more euros. I went to the bank ATM with Susan’s Wells Fargo ATM card. It didn’t work with the pin I had. Susan didn’t know what her pin was. Obviously Susan never uses the debit/ATM card. I go back to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine and pay with my credit card. It is declined!. I’ve been using this card other places fine. So, has the card been compromised? I pay with the euros I have and now have 10 euros left. So, I needed to take a cab back to the resort to our room to get my Wells ATM card that I know the pin. The cab will be 5 euros. The cab driver says that’s crazy for me to have to go back and forth and the cab driver pays the doctor bill for me and I’ll pay him after I go back to the ATM. The cab gets me back to the resort and says he has another fare and I can pay him later and zooms off. I’m amazed of the kindness and trusting of the cab driver. I also need to walk up the hill to rent a quad vehicle and rent that. I figure I’ll drive the quad to the bank and get more euros to pay the cab driver back. I rent the quad for 7 days for 175 euros and start to pay with a card. The merchant would prefer cash and I have 10 euros until I can get to the ATM. The merchant says you are on holiday. Pay me sometime this week. So, off I go to the bank ATM on the quad. The last quad I rented for 1 day ran out of fuel. So, should I spend the last 10 euros I have on fuel or go to the ATM first? I decide to spend my last 10 euros on fuel for the quad and then continue to the ATM. I go to the ATM, type in my pin and the ATM is OUT OF MONEY. Come back in two hours….

OK, Lets tax those rich corporations. Yea let’s get them.

But don’t only people pay taxes? No, corporations pay taxes too. The income from the corporation pays the corporate tax.

Hey I’ve got an idea, let the corporations pay all taxes and people will not have pay any income taxes. Just jack the rate up and let corporations pay for everything. And, when the government needs more money just raise the tax rate.

Wow, so people will not have to pay income taxes if we get all the income taxes only from corporations.

Well if corporations pay all the income taxes won’t that hurt them and make them go out of business or have to raise prices or something? No, they are so rich they can pay all the taxes from their income.

That’s great. I will go into a big box discount store and all the prices will be the same except for those items that have gone up in price from inflation. That’s right they had to raise some prices on things because they have to make money off of those. They can’t keep the same price or they would lose money on that item. Oh, and they are now paying their employees more money / hour. How does that work? Well they had to raise the prices on everything a little to pay the employees more. And, electricity, the parking lot repaving and many more things have gotten more expensive for big box stores to pay for. Well yes they had to raise the prices a little on everything to pay for the price increases.

Why don’t they just pay for all of those increases out of their checking account? Well, the big box discount store’s checking account would get depleted if they didn’t make money. They would go out of business! Oh, I see I have to pay more for items at the big box discount store as the expenses go up and the price they buy things for goes up due to inflation to keep the store in business.

So, if we raise the corporate tax rate that would also deplete the big box discount store’s checking account, right? It would. They will just raise the prices on all items to cover the increased corporate tax. I guess I’ll have to pay more for everything at the big box discount store as I’ll have to indirectly be paying their corporate tax.

Won’t that hurt low income people buying at big box discount stores? Yes they will be paying the corporate tax for the store too. So, how does a corporation actually pay taxes? They don’t. The reality is customers pay for everything. Is there some way we can have the rich people pay more at the big box discount store than the poor? Nope, the items rung up at the cash register are the same price for rich or poor people. And, raising the corporate tax rate will hurt the poor more than the rich that can afford higher prices on everything. So, to help the poor we could cut corporate taxes. It would make the prices at the cash register lower. That is true, but many don’t understand how corporations actually work. It would sound to the uneducated that eliminating corporate taxes would benefit only the rich.

Hum, it seems to me corporations do not pay taxes, or the light bill, or paving the parking lot, or higher employee wages and benefits. It’s really the customer that pays for everything. Yep it is. Only people pay taxes…

FLYING –

Hey I learned to fly back in the 80s. Yep Cessna 150s and 172s. What a stress reliever after a tough day at work. Go to the airport. Untie the plane. Check it all over and put gas in the wings. Yep, take off and fly and leave all your troubles on the ground.

It was a rural airport. The runway with the predominate wind was up hill. So, takeoff was a slow roll. The taxiway was grass. But after all the check lists, to push the throttle wide open and roll down the runway and just take off. It was great satisfaction watching the ground fall away

And, in the summertime it was very hot. No AC in a Cessna 150. But as you climbed up the temperature would drop. Just cruise around the practice area and look down at everything. Peaceful.

The landings were generally good. It is the toughest part of flying. But, I flew on good days without challenges. Well now, there was the occasional deer herd on the runway. Also, turkey buzzards might be in my landing path. And, the oddest thing was the final approach led me over a swamp with cooler air. It would make the plane bounce a bit as though I’d flown over an invisible speed bump. But generally all was Good. Then I’d tax to the grassy tie down area and shut the plane and hook the chains back to the wings.

Driving home I’d reflect on how beautiful it was in the air.

I don’t fly anymore. But, walking to the mailbox and back I often hear a Cessna or Piper up there, in the late afternoon, taking a flight to no where in particular. I’m transported up to that plane for a few seconds. And, I smile.