Give It Back

Give your tax rebate to someone who deserves it.



Give It Back
By Niel Bornstein


   It seems that my wife and I are going to be getting $600 from the
   United States government. We didn't ask for it, and we don't want
   it. But we had over $12,000 in taxable income, so we get it.
   
   Meanwhile, some 35 million wage-earning, tax-paying Americans will
   receive much less than that $600 figure.
   
   Why? Because they [1]earn less than $30,000.
   
   The tax rebate for a married-filing-jointly tax filer is 5% of the
   first $12,000 of taxable income. To have $12,000 in taxable income
   -- after up to $18,500 in deductions -- you must be over $30,000 in
   total income. That leaves out 35 million low income Americans.
   
   I keep reading about how [2]people are either excited about their
   rebates or disappointed that they are not enough. What about those
   of us who are disgusted to be receiving a rebate at all? Shouldn't
   this money be going to fund the services that Bush is cutting?
   
   We at the Monkeyfist Collective propose to give the money back to
   the people who should be getting it: the poorest Americans, who work
   hard and pay taxes but won't be getting a rebate.
   
   We have assembled the following list of organizations that provide
   essential services -- which the government does not -- to poor
   Americans. We suggest that you give some portion of your rebate to
   one or all of them. Or choose some others. After all, as the
   President likes to say, it's your money, right?
   
     * [3]Food Not Bombs
     * [4]Habitat for Humanity
     * [5]Jobs with Justice
     * [6]Planned Parenthood
     * [7]Southern Poverty Law Center
     * [8]United Negro College Fund
     * [9]United Students Against Sweatshops

References

   1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A99044-2001May30.html
   2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A85130-2001May27.html
   3. http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
   4. http://www.habitat.org/
   5. http://www.jwj.org/
   6. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/
   7. http://www.splcenter.org/
   8. http://www.uncf.org/
   9. http://www.usasnet.org/


--
Posted on Monkeyfist at http://monkeyfist.com/articles/756