Today was the first time I've been really upset in a long time. Why I am upset might be really confusing, you see because the reason I am upset is over my pay check. Normally these are the best times of the month. Since I moved to California, I have had the same job at the University, and I have been paid on the 10th and 25th of every month for nearly 2 and a half years. Never before today was being paid a time that I can remember being upset.
I looked at the net pay on my check and it was $1836 dollars, which isn't bad for a 15 day period, then I looked at all the deductions, and finally at the bottom was the amount that I was taking home, $1207. That means $629 dollars had been taken out somewhere along the lines. This made me exam even harder where exactly this money was going. First off a whooping $249 went to the federal government for taxes. Let me say that again incase you didn't read it right the first time $249 went to the United States of America federal government. The reason this is outrages is simply this, if I drove my car to work tomorrow and got into an accident and had to go to the emergency room, I would have to pay out of my ass for the next year just to cover the bill. That money that I just handed over to the Federal Government doesn't go into universal health care like it should. Instead $200 of that $249 is probably going to ruining some villagers life in Afghanistan or Iraq. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind paying the federal government, if in fact they were going to take care of sick people, or provide a free education, but sadly that is not the case.
Secondly a ridiculous $119 went to Social Security and this of course might be the biggest joke of all. In June of this year I received a letter telling me that I have to start making plans for my future and look to invest my money, because by 2026 Social Security will not be able to support the amount of people that will be eligible. Essentially I am paying money into something that will never be given back to me. When the majority of jobs don't offer pensions in America, how on god's green earth are we expected to survive after we retire at the age of 67. Now granted Social Security was not much money to begin with, but it was still enough to keep senior citizens from going hungry, and enough to keep a roof over there head.
I could keep going through the break down of it all, but there were state taxes for California, then SDUI taxes for California which I don't even know what that is. Medical insurance, with very bad coverage, Dental insurance, Life insurance, employee stock purchases, vision insurance etc. All totaling $629 in the end. Some of these things are optional and I would rather be safe than sorry, but do you see how I can be angry that 1/3 of my salary is gone before it even hits my bank account. I am not sure when the amount of taxes changed but I do know that pay day should be such a happy day, not the most upsetting day of the week. That's all I have to say about that.  ¶ 10:37 PM