Tax Refunds For Federal Tax Cheats

While millions of Americans (myself included) continue to send back bigger portions of their hard earned wages to Washington, many federal employees are tax cheats and getting large tax refunds. During the year of sweeping budget cuts, millions of federal employees faced layoffs, furloughs, and other cutbacks as a result of Congress’ failure to replace sequestration with responsible, targeted cuts. Most of these federal employees are responsible citizens who pay their taxes. Some, however, don’t feel they have to live by the rules like other Americans.

In 2011, the IRS found nearly 312,000 federal employees and retirees were delinquent on their federal income taxes, owing a total of $3.5 billion in unpaid federal income taxes. This represented an 11.5 percent increase in the number of federal employees failing to pay their taxes, and a 2.9 percent increase in the total taxes owed the Treasury by these public servants. The 2011 figures, the most recent year for which data are available, include 107,658 civilian federal employees owing more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes; 141,980 were military and civilian retirees $2.1 billion in delinquent taxes; and 61,928 were current military with $329 million in outstanding taxes.

It is inappropriate for any individual in violation of the law, including tax law, to retain full time employment with the federal government. And yet, nearly every federal agency and office, starting with the White House, Congress, and even the Treasury Department, continue to employ individuals who are failing to pay their taxes. Congress, the Courts, and the White House have failed to lead by example, with the three entities employing a total of 1,622 individuals owing a combined $23.8 million in taxes as of 2011. Federal employees have a clear obligation, just as the rest of American citizens do, to pay their federal income taxes.

Information found for this “Your Tax Dollars @ Work” post was done by using a Google search. Information compiled from multiple public websites & media outlets.

Defund Obamacare (“Affordable Care Act”)

Defund Obamacare

Don’t Fund Obamacare

Sign the petition and tell Congress: Don’t Fund Obamacare!

On 01 October 2013, millions of Americans will be required to enroll in Obamacare and could lose access to their doctors and be forced to pay higher premiums and higher taxes. But there’s still time to stop it. Republicans in Congress can stop Obamacare if they refuse to fund it.

Under normal circumstances one would never find anything to do with politics coming out of my mouth. However, since this goes way beyond the normal political rhetoric I feel almost obligated not to remain silent. I realize this decision will separate me from allies, friends, and even some family. All I ask is that you take the opportunity to review what is going to become something in all of our lives in the very near future. I don’t have a particular political alignment or agenda and I’m not asking anyone to “choose sides”. I am asking that each person I reach make the conscious decision to live with yourself and what you decided to do. This petition has nothing to do with me or my blog and all I am doing is sharing the information which can be found publically on the internet. As a father I find it is my duty to let everyone know that we do have a choice if we choose to be heard.

This will be the only time this subject will be mentioned here. I hold no opinions of those who choose to act or who choose not to act. Consider this an opportunity to review your future is it is what you choose to remain silent and let happen. That is all from me now and as far as I am concerned the subject is now closed. You have the information now which is available publically to all Americans. This isn’t about politics, it is about the future of healthcare for myself and fellow Americans.

Is being an alcoholic a disability?

Did y’all know that being an alcoholic is a “disability” which is both covered and protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act? Included in this post will be, but not limited to, information, links, and my opinions on this little factoid. When did being an alcoholic become a disability? When did being an alcoholic become a disease? I have news for y’all, being an alcoholic is neither a disability or disease. For example, one can quit drinking, but one can not quit having MS or CF. I found that reading at the Americans with Disabilities Act website that the definitions of terms are very screwed up. In fact, I challenge y’all to to look up four words, for fun of course, and then review how they are applied in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The four words are Disability, Disease, Alcoholic, and Addiction. Meanwhile, let me continue. Consuming alcohol is a choice a person makes. Stopping the consumption of alcohol is as well a choice.

 

This seems to be a very blurred subject when it comes to employment, benifits, and a person living their life. Unfortunately, as we see everyday, we tend to pay for the mistakes made by people making bad choices. Alcoholism is an addiction, it is a choice, it is a matter of a person’s will power, and that doesn’t make it a disability or disease. Makes no sense to me that an alcolholic is considered sick, he/she is not sick, he/she has an addiction to alcohol. Let me give you an example taken from the ADA questions and answers page. Click the “ADA” for an entire list of questions and answers.

 

Q. Are alcoholics covered by the ADA?

A. Yes. While a current illegal user of drugs is not protected by the ADA if an employer acts on the basis of such use,a person who currently uses alcohol is not automatically denied protection. An alcoholic is a person with a disability and is protected by the ADA if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. An employer may be required to provide an accommodation to an alcoholic. However,an employer can discipline,discharge or deny employment to an alcoholic whose use of alcohol adversely affects job performance or conduct. An employer also may prohibit the use of alcohol in the workplace and can require that employees not be under the influence of alcohol.

I tend to look at the choices we make in life as being similar to choices we would make while playing a game of chess. Each move in chess is a choice, each choice has a consequence, and in turn each time we make a choice, good or bad, we have determined what the outcome will be in advance. The non-chess players are now scratching their head. Just in case one or all of y’all are curious to what brought this up with me today, let me take a minute to explain. I was listening to the radio and one of the commercials boasted information in reference to lawsuits based on the discrimination of alcoholics in the workplace, either being hired or grounds for dismissal. The advertisement went on to explain it was in violation of the ADA and that lawfirm was there to help. Needless to say, it pissed me off just a tad. It pissed me off enough to do some research on my own.

In case you are wondering, yes I do have family members and friends who are “classified” as alcoholics. I have had the exact same conversation with them as well, I have explained to them they do not have a disease, they have an addiction. I can’t say much about a person’s addictions, I have my own since I make the choice every day to light just one more cigarette. Maybe they should make smoking a “disease” and then I wont have to go out in the rain to smoke. Seriously. Speaking of which, I am being very serious here, I am not making light of someone being an alcoholic. Trust me when I say I fought my own demons of self control not too many years ago. I used to be a heavy drinker, even could be considered an alcoholic, and one day I made a choice. My choice? My choice was to stop drinking. Why? Because I was tired of waking up sick every morning. I was tired of throwing money into the bottle. I was done. Hence, I wanted to quit. Therefore, I made the choice to quit and uphold my decision. Yes I know, what happens with one person is not the blanket answer to everyone’s problems. But, I do know, that making the choice to stop drinking is still just that, its a choice.