While "not-a true-grassroots-movement" Tea Party members are out and about protesting today, I just wanted to thank those of you who pay your taxes. Most of you probably do it begrudgingly - you wouldn't be human if you didn't. There is no joy in giving up hard earned cash, but there is honor in it. Many of us pay taxes with a greater purpose in mind. Thank you for doing whatever it takes to make sure our system of government is able to provide various benefits and protections to those who need them.
I have a very personal reason for thanking you for your efforts, today of all days.
As a private person, I'm not very good at self disclosure, but I will disclose this one bit of personal information. I grew up in a 'broken family'. It's an ugly term that doesn't adequately describe my family. My parents' marriage ended when I was nine years old. I don't know if my life would have been any different had my parents stayed together, but I know I had a good life, better than most others I knew. It's not the number of parents you have at home, it's about the people who are committed to you and who move heaven and earth to give you what they can.
While my parent didn't have a lot of money they valued education. Neither attended college but would have if they'd been given the opportunity. There was NEVER a discussion about whether we (my siblings and I) would attend college. The only discussions we ever had were about which schools we were interested in applying to, and if we'd thought about what we wanted to study when we got there.
I was fortunate enough to complete college and obtain a bachelor's degree but that was in large part due to federal and state funding and whatever money I could earn. My last year in college was interesting because a professor causally comment that she wanted to see me apply to graduate school - and I did. She believed in me enough to introduce me to the person who would become my future graduate school adviser. That was half the battle.
I could only afford graduate school through a competitive Predoctoral Fellowship. You guessed it, the fellowship was federally funded as many programs in higher education and advanced study are. The fellowship also provided a small stipend for living expenses. To earn the stipend, I worked as a teaching and research assistant. Like many others who benefit from college and advanced study, I now pay nearly as much in taxes as I lived on in grad school - if not more. If it weren't for you and your tax dollars which gave me an unimaginable opportunity, I would never have been able to have the life I have and work in a profession that I love.
What else did you do that made a difference?
The clinic I had to rely on for medical and dental care was funded in part with the dollars you paid in taxes.
Thank you tax paying Patriots because you've been with me, and most others in America, for a very long time. The streets we played kickball on as kids were paved in part because of federal and state funding (YOU).
The highways that connected us to our loved ones, no matter how far away they were, were there because you paid your taxes.
The low income children I often worked with in college, graduate school, and beyond, had a free breakfast and lunch thanks to you - those of you who provided the federal and state dollars needed to help them survive.
Funding for the agencies that make sure that we have relatively clean drinking water, safe foods, clean air? We did that with our tax dollars.
The freedom I hold dear, that's defended by our sisters and brothers in the armed services is supported by taxpayer dollars.
Women who are going to be able to send their daughters to school, worldwide, and give them the chance they themselves never had? That's because we stood with them.
Our sister and brothers who are rebuilding their lives after floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, fires and all other forms of natural disasters? That's in part our handiwork.
The first walk on the moon, and every other mission after that, and the resulting technology that has made life easier? We made that happen.
It angers me, too, when congress wastes taxpayers dollars or uses them to help corporations quite capable of taking care of themselves. Having said that, I pay taxes without hesitation - though I'd never say that I pay them joyfully -- it hurts! My fondest hope is that I'm returning the favor. When I look at how much of my pay is spent on taxes at the federal, state, and local levels, I imagine some smiling kid eating breakfast and feeling good that morning, or some grad student pouring over hundreds of pages of text while sitting in a comfortable chair late at night. I think about the myriad of ways my tax dollars might just make a difference.
Thank you, fellow taxpaying Patriots! You understand that the sanctity of life isn't just about how it starts, it's about how we help get one another through it.