[speaker002:] Americans Americans like me and whether or not uh uh uh not I think that we're paying too much taxes um that including taxes in general or income tax and um the other thing was do we get what we pay for I mean what what is our what is our opinion on that so
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] are you prepared to talk let me push
[speaker001:] oh I guess so go by ear
[speaker002:] let me push one here
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] okay um well I can just tell you a little bit about taxes in Texas it's most interesting because we're one of the few if I don't know of any other state um does not have a state and so we don't have a state income tax but we certainly make up for it in other ways here um for instance the local um sales tax is eight and a quarter percent
[speaker001:] right oh wow
[speaker002:] isn't that awful how about you what do you have there
[speaker001:] uh we have a six percent sales tax
[speaker002:] uh-huh and you have state income tax also
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] um-hum yeah well it's been people here have just have this um they've been really holding out in the legislature and it's starting to show um in a lot of ways as far as things that are just totally under funded and and I don't know if Texas is ever going to be able to to um totally avoid having an income tax or not I think eventually they're going to have to do it
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] but um do you think you pay too much there or how do you feel about that
[speaker001:] I don't mind my taxes as much as my social security
[speaker002:] oh really interesting uh-huh
[speaker001:] yeah yeah um the taxes I don't know I can deal with that because I know everyone else is paying in too I guess you know
[speaker002:] yeah yes
[speaker001:] but uh oh I don't know uh the one thing that we don't have uh tax on clothes do you
[speaker002:] uh-huh um yes we do have tax on clothes
[speaker001:] that's what I thought I know New York has also has a sales tax on clothes
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and I know a lot of kids like going to college with me that lived in New York or out of state and a lot of them would buy their clothes in Pennsylvania just for the simple sake of not paying that
[speaker002:] how interesting I guess I didn't realize that um we don't have tax on groceries for instance um
[speaker001:] uh-huh no well we don't have it necessarily on food but then there's other things that they nail you for it like health and beauty products you know
[speaker002:] yeah right yes yes I should I should've um delineated yet your absolutely right it's the food the consumable food parts that you know we don't have to pay tax on yeah
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] yeah and you really have to watch your your um bill sometimes I think um it's real interesting to look to see how many things that I buy in a grocery store which are not really edible groceries and that's when it really starts to add on and um so um that's that is sort of a help but um I don't know it's just eight and a quarter just seems like an awfully lot of of tax on uh any sale as far as I'm concerned um
[speaker001:] yeah that would uh
[speaker002:] it's real interesting this last um tax season I'm a student and the last tax season I had a just a part time job helping out in a tax office and the woman that owned the office was saying she'd had this business for oh probably seventeen or eighteen years and she was saying as the years have gone on there are fewer and fewer things that people can uh take off of their income tax
[speaker001:] deduct yeah
[speaker002:] and uh you know if you're not a home owner it's or if you haven't sold property or uh have something major like that it's hardly you know it it's just not much else you can do
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and she said it's really taken the fun out of doing taxes for people for her because she used to be real creative about helping them find ways of you know accumulating receipts can't do oh really
[speaker001:] uh-huh and see I take it she was an accountant yeah
[speaker002:] can't do it any more so
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh I know well I I I also was a student I just graduated in May and um I graduated with a finance degree but that was the big joke the accountants or the people who found ways to cheat on your income tax
[speaker002:] uh-huh how interesting
[speaker001:] that was the big joke
[speaker002:] oh gosh where did you go to school
[speaker001:] Clarion University
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh well you're you're the same age as my daughter because she just graduated from college this year too I'm a graduate student having gone back after many years so um
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] nevertheless I am a student and poor
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] so it's uh um you know it's been I I guess as far as people like uh our family we can feel like sometimes we pay more than our share as middle class people with Americans with um college age students you know and
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] and I there just I don't know I guess as you say you just have to look around and decide that most of the other people that you know are paying about what you are and
[speaker001:] uh-huh I think they should go back I I realize you know that we have uh graduated tax brackets but I think they should still go back and instead of putting the burden more on the middle class I think the burden should be put more on the wealthy
[speaker002:] oh yes absolutely yeah because uh it seems like you they still come out okay um you know uh they
[speaker001:] yeah yeah you know they always have the argument well you know well who's to say we don't work harder to get that you know well
[speaker002:] yeah I kind of have my doubts
[speaker001:] I don't care how much they take off of you you know you're still going to be above on top and I you know like you said I I've worked in different places and the ones that get the most pay do the least work
[speaker002:] uh-huh that's yes seems that way yeah that the higher they get the you know at least I don't know it seems like um they must feel like they're paid for all of the years of experience or um or something or just the title sometimes um
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and it it doesn't seem fair and I I know a lot of people do make money um you know in in good investments and things like that but I think that's a lot of luck and a lot of gambling and not a whole not a whole lot of work
[speaker001:] I agree with you I do think it's a lot of luck and I don't like that part of the finance you know whatsoever
[speaker002:] yes right
[speaker001:] I don't know but like what I was saying about the social security that's real you know it never bothered me until we started talking about it in my classes
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and then the more I think about it the more I think I'm paying in to something that I granted you know I'm paying for my grandparents but I'm never going to see that social security is going to be gone before I ever get any
[speaker002:] right probably not yeah yes or what's left is not going to be worth anything um you know in terms of how you can actually use it
[speaker001:] um-hum right they're going to pay me fifty dollars a month well
[speaker002:] yeah right but that's well and
[speaker001:] I 'm sorry I put in much more than that you know
[speaker002:] that's right yeah yeah that's I haven't heard much um in recent years um about social security I mean for a while there not too long ago they were they were saying that the whole system was going to be bankrupt
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] you know before very long because so much was going out for programs that were it was that originally it was never intended to be used for or you know programs just weren't in existence and um
[speaker001:] right uh-huh
[speaker002:] then I it sort of calmed down I haven't heard much lately but if you have talked about that in your classes you know in the last few years I'm sure that you have heard
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] yeah well um I don't know I guess we complain about taxes but I guess you know uh you have to be sort of
[speaker001:] yeah yeah you you got to look to what they put you know you have decent roads at least
[speaker002:] yeah you have to appreciate yeah what what you do get for them sometimes and um
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] I guess it's it's worse you know I'd rather see be able see to control my money as much as I do with what's left over taxes than to live in oh England or um some countries where so much of it is socialized that you don't see any of that money at all
[speaker001:] uh-huh that's true
[speaker002:] and so you know I guess it's all relative
[speaker001:] it's how you look at it too
[speaker002:] yeah that's exactly right
[speaker001:] I like to instead of thinking how much you know that I'm paying out I like to just look at it and say oh well everyone else is doing it too you know
[speaker002:] that's right yeah and I