Summer vacation can be taxing if you work

(Advisor's note: Mr. Chutchian's Comparative Government and Economics classes interviewed working adults about taxes. If you work this summer, you will pay taxes. Good Americans thank you.)

It's easy to get taxpayers talking about taxes
By Susan Gary

Taxes are a touchy subject. The majority of the population believes they are paying touch much, taxes are too confusing, and they are unfair. That’s what I hear, but I decided to find out for myself by interviewing people who pay taxes.

     I interviewed Michele Gary from Mechanic Falls, employed at Home Depot, Matthew Gary from Mechanic Falls, co-owner of TwinConstruction, Charles Yancey, science teacher at Poland Regional High School, and Ian Truman, literature teacher at Poland Regional High School and lead singer of Dead Season.

     Michele Gary said,  “I think it should all be a flat rate for everybody because it would be way confusing if poor people paid a lower tax, middle class people paid a higher tax and rich people paid an even higher tax.”

     Interesting. But what are people willing to pay for a flat rate?

     Charles Yancey was very particular in how much he was willing to pay. “I think you should pay 8% of your income to the Town, 5% of your income to the State, and 2% of your income to the Federal Government. Fifteen percent total taxes taken from my income. . . Thus our local community would have a far greater amount to spend on things that support our community, instead of sending that money to the federal government, which spends it on needless wars, needless army bases, needless aid to other countries, and needless bailouts for private companies like GM.” 

While doing research I also found that there was a controversy over how debt affected taxes. When in debt on investments such as mortgages, college loans and a 401K retirement plan, you are able to get your taxes lowered in order to help pay off those debts.

      Some people search for investments that they can make to get those tax cuts for themselves. Others, like Charles Yancey, feel differently.  “It is the job of a responsible citizen to pay those debts back while still paying their share of the taxes,” he said.

 Ian Truman, on the other hand, said, “Mortgage and education should definitely get tax breaks. People should be rewarded for investing in themselves.” 

      Matthew Gary looked at the problem from a different angle: “It’s disturbing to keep pushing our debt onto our grandchildren. You should not be able to write off debt unless it’s a business expense.” If you have the ambition to start up your own business and risk your own money for the community, you should also get a break, Gary believes. He  went on to talk about how far in debt our nation is, which is another interesting topic. Currently the U.S. is about $8.5 trillion in debt and gaining $1.5 billion every day. That means it would cost each U.S. citizen about $30,000 to pay off the national debt.

     Everyone has an opinion on taxes. If citizens were more informed on the topic, how would their opinions change?

Taxes: Pay up and hope for the best
By Emma-Jane Turton

     The American taxpayer’s definition of taxes is not the same as the New Oxford American Dictionary definition of taxes.

    Douglas Turton, assistant manager at the Ninety-Nine Restaurant in Topsham, said taxes “are a fact of life but necessary to maintain education, human services and infrastructure.” 

     Christine Plourde-Rand a psychiatric nurse practitioner at St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, said that while she feels that they are not something she enjoys paying, she knows that they are needed to provide services and resources to those living in this country and community. 

     A man who has his salary paid by taxpayers, Trevor Tidd, a robotics and wood shop teacher at Poland Regional High School, says he’s willing to pay the taxes that are fair,  and of course he hopes that somebody pays their taxes so that he can keep his job. 

When asked how she thought her tax dollars should be spent, Christine Plourde-Rand said, “I feel we need to put more money in education, resources for kids to stay out of the streets and in school, rehabilitation for people to return to work.” 

     Doug Turton wishes that his tax dollars were not spent on people in welfare programs. He feels that too many hard-working Americans such as himself and his wife, who have had careers their whole lives, pay their bills and pay their taxes, carry an unfair burden for citizens who don’t work and don’t try to find work. 

Sales taxes hit us every day. A shirt that says $12.99 on the tag may end up becoming $14.03 by the time it hits the register. How do people feel about sales taxes? Tidd says he is okay with sales taxes, but he wishes that he paid them just one time on vehicles that he purchases.

    Douglas says, “I don’t know how New Hampshire does it (no sales tax), their property tax must be really high.” And he is correct. New Hampshire ranks third in the nation for median property taxes paid behind New Jersey and Connecticut. The New Hampshire  median price for a property tax bill is $4,636. Maine ranks at number twenty with $1,936, according to a group called The Tax Foundation). Now that extra $1.04 sales tax on your shirt doesn’t seem quite as bad, does it?

Income taxes truly affects Americans on a personal level. And that level is, “the more you get, the more you give.” When I saw my pay check every week last summer, I knew how much I had worked and how much money I should have essentially accumulated that week. But when I looked at my pay check, I was a few dollars short, thanks to this beautiful concept called the income tax. I didn’t make a lot, because I didn’t work a lot. I was lucky to get $95 a week for three days a week. My mom used to look at my pay check and say, “It must be nice to only lose (about) three bucks a week,” and I would just laugh and forget about it. Until I really thought about how much she lost per week.

Can sports save the world or your soul? By Elijah Breton

One early morning in mid-May, I couldnʼt help myself as I got wrapped up
watching the Barclays Premier League Season finale with a league title was on the line.
Crosstown rivals, Manchester United and Manchester City were sitting at the top of
the league standings, with Manchester City leading United in goals scored by eight. All
City needed to do was win against Queens Park Rangers (QPR), and they essentially
assured themselves the league championship.

The Rangers werenʼt just going to roll over and give them the game. They were in
danger of relegation (European footballʼs version of shipping a team to the minor
league) if they lost. United, on the other hand, needed City to tie, or lose -- but only if
they won against Sunderland. Yes, the season was riddled with crazy stories
throughout. But to score at least eight goals in a game was way out of the picture.
For Americans, the game was broadcast late morning. For any fan across the pond,
they had to scurry from Mass, say prayers for their respective team, and then watch an
afternoon spectacle. The stage was set. And those fans were ready.

I have become increasingly fascinated with the passion and obsession people have
with sports. Iʼll be honest in saying that I, too, am guilty of such obsession. Whatʼs
interesting however, is how different people and cultures express their obsession.
Bates College Professor Francesco Duina says that we, as humans, “share a certain
restlessness and uncertainty about our proper place in the world. We thus turn to
winning to find out if we are really worthy human beings. Winning serves as an
affirmation of our legitimacy.”

Competition, says Professor Duina, “generates unnecessary tensions within
ourselves and with the world, and because ultimately it cannot give us the answers we
are looking for.”

I disagree with Professor Duina.

Itʼs not necessary to be focussed on the problems with the world at all times. On a
global standard, every two years, the world comes together to watch their prized
athletes compete for their respective countries in the Olympics. Each fanʼs passion and
obsession only enriches the atmosphere of the world. On a more parochial level,
consider that in 2001, in late October, the New York Yankees were playing in the World
Series. The sympathy for New York in the wake of the aftermath of 9/11 was converted
into an obsession with watching Americaʼs pastime. Sports can offer a distraction from
the world for fans. If we looked for answers to questions such as, “When will the world
end?” then why bother living? Itʼs much healthier to ponder the sustainability to the
Yankee dynasty.

Looking at sports obsession on a comparison level, most nations have their
different forms of expression. Superstitions abound in the world of sports across the
globe. No matter how crazy or foolish the superstition is, fans don't want to take the
slightest chance of jinxing their favorite team. Fans in the U.S., South America, Europe
and Africa will do whatever it takes to make sure that their favorite team is riding the
destiny-train to a victory. The intensity of the behavior only gets worse as the season
progresses and the hopes of a title increase.

And superstitions donʼt take into account rituals such as face painting, tattooing your
teamʼs logo on your chest, showing up to every game even if you are gainfully
employed, or blowing into a vuvuzela until you pop a blood vessel.
According to Professor Duina, Americans are fairly “unique in our constant inclination
to turn everything into a matter of winning and losing -- work, play, personal
possessions, even love.”

But when you compare and contrast our obsession with winning to European or
African countries, it equals out in the long run. There are a few exceptions to the rule.
Take for example, Denmark, where the Law of Jante rules. This law, according to
wikipedia, “Portrays and criticizes individual success and achievement as unworthy and
inappropriate.” Essentially, every sports fan residing in Denmark has been neutered
from any thoughts of excessive celebration and obsession.

Back to my own crazy obsession -- the world-not-quite-on-the-line football game on
the other side of the Atlantic.

The Queens Park Rangers PR were the first to strike with an early goal. Now, keep
in mind QPR was a 16-1 favorite to win this match. As soon as they scored, the
stadium, filled with rowdy City fans, became silent. City charged back, however, scoring
an equalizing goal just before halftime.

At almost the same time, United -- playing Sunderland on the field but battling
Manchester City for first place -- took an early lead in their game. It was like playing
three teams. Anxiety gripped the faces of Man City fans. At the drop of the second half,
QPR scored again, taking the lead. And this time, they held the lead for over thirty
minutes. The tension was almost unbearable. Cityʼs coach nearly ran onto the field
screaming at his players. Everyone knew what was at stake. Meanwhile, United
continued to hold on to its lead, and the excitement sucked in fans who were not
expecting to come away with a title.

City and QPR were getting close to stoppage time, and the fans were now at the
point of tears and denial. It was made even worse that United had claimed their victory
over Sunderland.

But just when the game entered stoppage time, the magic of sports -- the
inexplicable and unpredictable unfolding of events that comes with pure competition --
took center stage. In a span of three minutes, City scored two goals and clinched their
league title. Tears of sadness became tears of joy and disbelief. United fans looked like
each of them had taken a Muhammad Ali uppercut out of nowhere into the gut. City fans
rejoiced with laughing, singing, crying and celebration.

Three weeks later, they still could be celebrating, for all we know.
Itʼs a good thing to see from the other side of the globe. We are not alone with our
irrational attachment to sports.

Twitter and Facebook had a Baby and Called it Tumblr by Stephanie LaFreniere

Courtesy of wpmu.org

Anyone who frequents the Internet, or even just occasionally visits, knows about Tumblr, or has at least heard of it.

“All it is is a mass image search site where people post pictures that other people can ‘repost’ onto their ‘wall’ to say that it represents them,” says Corey Wallace, a PRHS junior. “It's as pointless as it can get. No discussions boards. Just images about 1% of the people in it made that 99% of the people used.”

Corey is pretty much right --  Tumblr is a blogging site where people can post, and repost, pictures, text, videos, links, quotes, audios, just about everything you can think of. Now, I use the term “blogging” very loosely when talking about Tumblr, because in fact, it’s not a blogging site, it’s a microblogging site. One word makes a whole lot of difference.

Microblogging is just an elaborate word for social networking; the only reason Tumblr is even called a microblogging site is to attract people who like to blog with the pretense that the site is for blogs, when in reality Tumblr is more picture-based than text.

Tumblr is really just a newer version of Twitter, and if Tumblr were spelled correctly it would even have the same number of letters!  At Twitter you can follow people (and their “tweets” appear on your page just like on Tumblr), you can repost peoples “tweets,” and you can post pictures. The exception is that on Tumblr you have no word limit on your posts (which is funny considering Tumblr is more picture-based while Twitter is more text-based), everything is the same. So, I suppose this is another Myspace vs. Facebook argument.
  

I try to keep an open mind, especially on the Internet with the millions of varying opinions that exist, but I could never get what was so special about Tumblr. Really, it just looks like founder David Karp saw Twitter had a word limit, and decided to make a website that didn’t, and -- seeing that one of the most popular websites around, Facebook, was mostly text based -- made Tumblr more image-based.

“The biggest argument I hear made in favor of Tumblr is that ‘it's a way to express yourself!’ But what does it say about you?” says Zoe Leino, a PRHS junior. “ You like to show off things that other people have created? How are you expressing yourself if the things you post come entirely from the minds/creativity of others?”

I agree with Zoe. As Corey said pertaining to images, “One percent of the people in it made that 99% of the people used,” and although this number is clearly dramatized, a single photo on Tumblr can go viral in less than an hour, appearing on thousands of different users pages.

“Nothing original EVER comes out of the useless cesspool of Tumblr,” says PRHS junior Ian Pickett.

My search for good quotes on Tumblr produced mostly unpublishable comments due to profanity. Hannah Labbe, a PRHS junior, said, “Everyone on Tumblr is more accepting of you than people on Facebook. On Facebook people are scrutinized for everything you post, with Tumblr you can reblog the posts you like or keep scrolling. You choose the people you follow and what fills your dashboard.”

But Zoe Leino responds with this:  “On Facebook you can also choose who you are friends with and what posts you see.” She adds that you don’t HAVE to look at everyone’s statuses. All in all, it’s the same, and if you feel “scrutinized” it’s your own fault for”friending” those people.

“I don't think Tumblr is necessarily all about ‘expressing yourself’ or doing it differently than other people,” said PRHS junior Taylor Wood, who offers a different perspective of a frequent Tumblr user. “I use it because I can find stuff that makes me laugh, reblog it and hope other people find it just as amusing. When major events happen, Tumblr users are pretty quick with spreading important information.

“Granted it may not be anymore creative than other sites, and people may use the same layout, or reblog the same content, but it's still just a fun site to use,” Taylor said. “It's nice to see that other people have some of the same views as you, you're not the only one with certain conspiracy thoughts, and everyone finds a gif of a cat's head stuck in a jar hilarious.”

Most people do use the argument of Tumblr being a means of “expressing oneself,” which is why I found Zoe’s earlier quote quite amusing. But it seems to me that Taylor is saying it should be more for fun than a personal diary.

I feel like that holds true for any social media website, bringing me back to point that Tumblr is just Twitter and Facebook combined. Though, I will admit, it is much more convenient to have Twitter and Facebook together, rather than apart.

This article was not meant to offend anyone in any way, and I apologize if it did, or if it seemed too biased. I’m not going to hate someone for using Tumblr, nor do I wish to encourage disdain toward Tumblr users. I only hope that this would help people to develop their own, slightly more educated, views on Tumblr; it’s really up to you to decide how you feel about our ever growing Internet’s contents, and eventually up to you to decide how it’s used.