Of the $3500.00 you may have paid in Federal taxes:

$1048.89 goes to the military
$651.10 goes to pay the interest on the
$709.58 goes to health care
$230.36 goes to income security
$128.45 goes to education
$120.32 goes to benefits for veterans
$94.10 goes to nutrition spending
$75.03 goes to housing
$60.36 goes to environmental protection
$32.80 goes to job training
$368.03 goes to all other expenses

How can we possibly reduce the federal deficit and find enough money for high-quality public services without raising everyone's taxes? We cannot. With our current tax structure we cannot have both guns and butter.

The Internal Revenue Service recently released a report estimating that taxes owed but not collected in 2001 (the last year studied) ranged from $312 billion to $353 billion. That didn't even count much of the tax evasion by US firms offshore.

Last fall, Citizens for Tax Justice examined federal taxes paid by 275 of America's largest corporations. On average, they paid a rate of 17.3 percent -- lower than the rate paid by nearly everyone who is reading this column.

The statutory corporate rate is 35 percent. The fact that the taxes actually paid were less than half that amount reflects a blend of special-interest laws, shelters, and outright tax-cheating. As McIntyre observes, in the 1950s, US corporations paid 4.8 percent of the gross domestic product in taxes. By 2004 that had fallen to 1.6 percent.

We the Rable have two choices, we can lobby collectively to demand that corporations pay their fair share of the tax burden or we can pay more of our hard earned dollars so that wealthy businesses can pay less. There is of course a third option. This would be to allow our Republican lead government to "starve the beast". If we continue on our present course of tax cuts and increased spending, our government will eventually bankrupt and we will have no other option but to abandon the social programs that have made us an egalitarian society. In short, the citizens that need the most help would receive the least. This trend is gaining momentum in Washington, as reflected in the last budget cuts, and is largely going unnoticed by the majority of Americans. What's more important to you? Tax cuts for wealthy corporate citizens or pre-kindergarten care for less fortunate children?

Famous Quotes:
Only the little people pay taxes. - Leona Helmsley

The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward. - John Maynard Keynes