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I am not rich, nor am I poor. You might call me upper middle income, or lower upper.
We have a nice house in a nice neighborhood. We give ten percent of our gross income to our church and other charities. They feed the hungry and homeless, counsel the lost, and help families provide healthy recreation for children, among other things.
On four occasions, for five years total of our 13-year marriage, we have shared our home with various young women in college or just beginning careers who needed a safe place to live.
We have adopted and sheltered dozens of animals over the years, including cats, dogs, birds and horses. At various times we’ve had family members live with us.
To do all of this, we choose to work two full time jobs and run a part time business. We’ve each been on unemployment once, but otherwise we’ve been fortunate not to need public assistance.
We also employ lots of people. We have a housekeeper every two weeks. A yard man. A pool cleaner. I don’t cut my husband’s hair, or my own. I have an occasional pedicure. We take our dog to the groomer. A local teen washes our cars. We are regulars at our local dry cleaner. I take Yoga classes. We go out to the movies, rent movies, and have cable TV. When we go out to eat, we tip well.
None of the things above are big luxuries. We work hard to be able to hire a little help so we can use what little spare time we have volunteering at church as Sunday School teachers, in the choir, and on the church council. We are active in our community.
But if you over-tax me, even if it’s allegedly to help others less fortunate, you rob me of the option to help in the ways that I choose. And, you force me to stop hiring others. I’ll cut my own hair, iron my own clothes, wash my own car, clean my own pool.
And slowly, one small item at a time, our economy dies by a thousand cuts.
Government has forgotten the role of families who hire a little help now and again.
I am the forgotten employer. When you over-tax me, everyone suffers. Politicians, ignore me at your peril.
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