I am part of America\u2019s middle class and I want to pay higher taxes.<\/p>\n

Before you call me insane, let me explain that I want to pay higher taxes in the same way that I \u201cwant\u201d to work-out, eat less chocolate, and watch less television. I know that regardless of how much I complain while I\u2019m exercising, I know that at the end of the day I will be satisfied that I invested in a healthy future.\u00a0 This is the ever-important concept of delayed gratification and unfortunately previous generations did not apply this concept to the federal budget.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m assuming that everyone knows by now that President Obama has not balanced the federal budget for the last four years. I\u2019m also assuming that the majority of the population knows that our deficit is dangerously high (eg. $16 trillion).\u00a0 But did you know that our federal budget has only been balanced four out of the last 35 years?\u00a0 Well, you already knew that if you watched former President Clinton \u2018s speech at the Democratic National Convention (I\u2019ll let you guess which administration balanced the budget). Given America\u2019s sordid history of reckless accounting, it should be no surprise that this generation is finally going to have to pay for it.\u00a0 \u00a0Please stop saying that we must solve the debt crisis for the future generation and start doing it for your self.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m aware that one cannot just simply take the high road and elect to pay higher taxes, but I know that I have the guts to vote for a lower paycheck so that my country does not fail.\u00a0 There is no realistic way the government can lower taxes or keep them at their current level without slashing federal spending.\u00a0 We can\u2019t just de-fund PBS, NPR, and Planned Parenthood and call it a day (Federal contributions to those three programs combined make up around 1% of the federal budget). \u00a0 We would need to eliminate historic programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, which help keep millions Americans afloat. As I mentioned earlier, I am not wealthy. A cut in my paycheck would mean I have to make hard budgeting decisions.\u00a0 But I am ready and willing to face those circumstances for the betterment of the nation\u2019s status quo.\u00a0I do not ask what my country can give me; I ask what I can give to my country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a college graduate, I am willing to pay more taxes so that the future generation has the same opportunity, regardless of their financial status.\u00a0 As a daughter, I will make sacrifices to make sure that my parents\u2019 generation has Medicare and Social Security.\u00a0 As a woman, I want to make sure low-income women are not burdened by the high cost of female-specific health expenses, from contraception to mammograms. \u00a0As an American, I want to make sure that the men and women who serve my country come home to the same healthcare privileges that I enjoy. \u00a0And as a human-being, I know that we should stop forcing the world\u2019s densely populated and poverty-stricken subtropical regions from reaping the consequences of America\u2019s selfish ignorance to climate change.<\/p>\n

We are all aware of the consequences of greed and self-interest yet we refuse to yield any of our income to those who are hurting the most.\u00a0 Yes, Governor Romney and President Obama, you are correct.\u00a0 The middle class is hurting.\u00a0 We are still burdened by Wall Street\u2019s failures.\u00a0 But we, too, will have to pay for the mistakes of the wealthy if we truly want to see this nation recover.\u00a0 We must not have a one-sided approach to reducing the deficit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I understand that the middle class is economically diverse, with incomes ranging from\u00a0 $32,500 to $250,000 and I apologize for lumping this huge economic class under one umbrella.\u00a0 There are certainly members of the middle class who cannot and should not pay higher taxes. And, I also understand that members of the middle class can afford higher taxes but don\u2019t trust the government with their hard-earned cash.\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is that we must raise revenue on those who can afford it while making government programs more efficient and less costly or else we will either lose major government programs, worsen the current economy or both.<\/p>\n

We must cross the partisan barbed wire fence and do what is necessary for the nation.\u00a0 After all, the U.S. credit rating was not downgraded because of the financial crisis; it was downgraded because our politicians failed to unify days before the federal government reached a fiscal cliff. We have spent the past three decades putting ourselves before the benefit of the nation. Raising taxes should not be political suicide.\u00a0 If you ask me, it\u2019s simply patriotic.<\/p>\n

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