In Obama's economy be thankful you pay taxes

April 15th is one of the few days on the calender when we put aside our differences and aim our collective ire towards the IRS. It isn't hard to get angry when thinking bout the work, the overtime, and everything in our personal lives we put aside in order to pay our bills, only to see a large chunk of it handed over to the government so they can do a variety of things we object to it doing before we even get a chance to budget out our month. Of course, we get this rage in small doses twice a month, but facing the cumulative total of Uncle Sam's plunder once a year is enough to drive even the most stable member of society into a blind rage. And yet, in 2014, we who pay taxes should be thankful. To clarify I think taxes should be lower across the board (ideally we should institute a flat tax on income or scrap the income tax altogether and institute a national sales tax), the tax code should be simplified (73,000 pages is more than excessive), and we should limit the amount of taxes the government is allowed to collect as a percentage of GDP (the 40-year average is a tad higher than 17% of GDP and that is too high for my liking). Taxes stifle growth, place limits on innovation, and dampen productivity by themselves, and that doesn't take into account the 6.1 billion hours and $168 Billion Americans spend preparing their taxes each year. Taxes are a destructive force that are too often used not to generate revenue but to punish or aid sectors of the economy based on the whims of the party in power. And that doesn't even touch upon what the taxes are used for – government intrusion into the private economy (ObamaCare, Solyndra), bailouts (GM), increased transfer payments (record numbers of Americans on food stamps and SSDI), and wars.

And yet, in 2014, we who pay taxes should be thankful.

One of my favorite political bumper stickers/slogans of all-time is “Work! People on welfare are depending on you!” Never has that been more true than on April 15th, 2014. According to the USDA, 20% of households were on food stamps last year. The monthly average of people on food stamps throughout 2013 was over 47 million compared to 33 million in 2009. We have seen the labor force participation rate drop to its lowest point in over 35 years since 2009 and the underemployment rate sits above 13% five years after the so-called recovery began. According to the Tax Policy Center 43% of Americans do not pay income taxes, over 46 million live in poverty, and median income has fallen 4% since the beginning of the recovery. Did I mention there are now over 80 means tested programs in America and that have spent over $3.7 Trillion over the past five years?

A lot of these numbers come from a concentrated effort by the Obama administration to increase the number of those eligible for these programs (and creating new ones), but the real reason why so many people are on welfare or are facing tough times is the terrible economy that continues to this day. Sure there are people who abuse the system (and let's face it, the welfare benefits in some states are better than working a low-wage job) but many people who want to work cannot work because of an administration that has declared war on work. ObamaCare will kill off hours worked and keep small businesses from creating jobs, higher taxes on “wealthy individuals” will ensnare small businesses, larger corporations are constantly under attack by an administration that spends more time talking about income inequality than income opportunity.

So let us rename tax day “Be Thankful You Have A Job In The Obama Economy Day.” We may not be happy about the amount the government is taking, or that they do it in the most inefficient way possible, or that they spend it on worthless projects and programs that suck the life out of the economy, or that there is rampant fraud in our welfare programs, or that so much goes to countries who hate us, but we can be happy that Obama's economy hasn't completely savaged our resilient private economy. Hopefully our friends, family, and neighbors who want to work but haven't found work will find work at companies constantly fighting against the headwinds the Obama administration has put in place.

So yes, be thankful you pay taxes in 2014. Not because of what the money does or the amount taken, but because you have managed to hold a job in spite of the economy and say a prayer for those who have added to 5-years of depressing stories about life in the Obama economy.