[speaker001:] okay uh well we just got our income tax return and I'm perfectly happy what about you
[speaker002:] well let's see um I haven't gotten mine yet because my parents are getting all that stuff at um at home in the Bay area
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] so I'm not sure how much I'm getting back but I'm pretty sure should get back a little bit since I'm still a student so not too much
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] not too bad though
[speaker001:] but as far as writing checks out and paying taxes I think it's pretty high but I I'm uh you know I I guess that's where we have to be where it we have to keep raising them for to keep some of the things that that we have and
[speaker002:] yeah it it's one of those necessities of life that we all have to you know pay taxes but uh although it is kind of a pain sometimes though
[speaker001:] it's just scary though about you know how high are the taxes gonna be when my children are my age
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] you know that that's that's scary too because it's not anything like the way it was when I was young and small and a child so
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] you know that that's a scary part too that you have to think about
[speaker002:] yeah and and like as as time goes on you know things get more expensive and because we're we're increasingly complex society that day by day things get more um things get more expensive as well as more complex
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] and you know taxes are one of the ways that help pay for a lot of the things that are needed in this society
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] I mean everything from you know from Medicare to um to Social Security to um to feeding the homeless to um to you know feeding the homeless to uh maintaining prisons to maintaining polices or fire departments and things like that and it's now there's more and more things that need attending to and that sort of thing and
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know it's it's becoming a a large responsibility but someone someone has to pay for it and that's us
[speaker001:] yeah and then you find out about all these things about are your taxes you know the taxpayers are your money is your money going to where you want it to go and there's gonna be a special this week I I can't I can't remember if it's Twenty Twenty or one of those things where um I think it's one of the local news I think they're having an a documentary something about that about they're trying to catch some people about not spending your tax pay monies right and fraud and that kind of thing you know and that's kind of scary too
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh so that would be interesting to see I wanted to see that program
[speaker002:] yeah and and even even today it's like you know there's still a considerable amount of taxes that you know we're paying for but you'd think that we're still in this this this uh deficit state that we're still not able to pay off things just because
[speaker001:] I know
[speaker002:] the budget's not big enough as it is
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] and makes you wonder when there's you know uh countries out there that have you know tax rates also like close to fifty percent or higher
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know it's like fifty percent of everything you make is already gone before you can get it and that that's kind of a scary thought and I hope it doesn't come down to that
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] but on the other hand they also while while those countries that have high taxes also have things like um like socialized medicine and things like that too which are nice fringe benefits of it so everyone has everyone has the access to medical facilities as well as the doctors that sort of thing and it's good but it's it's the price they pay
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] I mean it it can be argued one way or another whether the economically it's actually good for the country or good for any given country to have that because those those countries tend to be um as far as cash flow a a lot um have a be tend to have a much slower cash flow and don't try and generate a larger um
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] a large amount of revenue because there's so little um currency flow through out the economic system
[speaker001:] hm well you sure do know a lot know a lot
[speaker002:] uh just keeping up with the times that's all
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] as it as it turns out you know it's one of those one of those interests that you know I kind of like to keep up on because well it's nice to know that when I'm actually you know I do start working that I'll like to know like where my tax dollars are going too I work hard to to get you know I like to know where it's going to
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah yeah that's true
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] what do you think about these items that are gonna be um taxed even more like um tobacco and that kind of thing
[speaker002:] I think in a in a way it's good in a way it's not um but I think in general it's probably good I mean a lot of things like tobacco and alcohol and things like that have been have been in the past
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um have been not taxed because there's been such a large lobby against them against the taxes for them you know sponsored by alcohol and tobacco companies
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and it's things like tobacco are um they're they're a proven health hazard to smokers as well as nonsmokers
[speaker001:] yeah right
[speaker002:] and it's as far as a safety thing in like in San Luis Obispo for example there's an ordinance which states that um there's no smoking in any public areas and so if you walk into any restaurant or any hotel there's no smoking allowed anywhere
[speaker001:] oh really
[speaker002:] um-hum