If there is one thing Americans truly hate more than anything else, it is taxes. Virtually everyone wants to have their taxes cut. Democrats love to cut taxes, Republicans love to cut taxes, and the people love to see tiny fractionally larger pieces of money in their paychecks at the end of the month.

If there is one thing that Americans love almost as much as getting their taxes cut, it is getting things from the government. Roads, police, schools, defense, border and homeland security, electrical utilities, and traffic signals are all a part of the American way of life.

Unfortunately, Americans are caught in a zero sum game. If you cut taxes, you have less money to spend on the things you like. If you want more of the things you like you have to pay with them somehow, and that is typically done through taxation.

Americans everywhere bemoan the overwhelming burden placed on their shoulders when the feds come after their hard-earned paychecks. They have somehow managed to completely ignore the fact that Europeans pay far more in taxes than Americans have at any point in the last 30 years. Facts can be unfortunate things.

On Sunday July 25 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was interviewed for ABC’s “This Week”.

According to Reuters, during his short segment he said that as the financial economy turned back toward a positive trajectory it was becoming clear that the time for the Bush tax cuts had come and gone. In his own words, “We think that’s the responsible thing to do because we need to make sure we can show the world that (we’re) willing as a country now to start to make some progress bringing down our long-term deficits.”

For those in the United States who are honestly “fiscally conservative” this talk of ending the tax cuts should be like music to their ears. However, in a culture where everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, this sentiment has created controversy. CNNMoney.com ran the preposterous headline “Tax hikes for the rich: Can the economy afford them?” The article itself is modestly balanced, but the title choice leaves little room for doubt; the news agency that covers the day-to-day dealings of the richest Americans seems to be on the side of the richest Americans.

First and foremost, what Secretary Geithner was alluding to is not some unforeseen tax increase. It is allowing a temporary policy to end. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy were first enacted in 2002, and again in 2003. The very top tax bracket currently pays 35 percent of its income in taxes. The second highest bracket pays 33 percent. Before President Bush those brackets paid 39.6 and 36 percent respectively.

Calling this marginal adjustment a “tax hike” is nothing more than sensational journalism, not honest reporting.

In 2010 the top brackets are broken into somewhat convoluted income categories, but in general the cuts apply to those making $250,000 or more per year. The exact number changes due to differences in filing status (married, single, etc.) but $250,000 annually is a good benchmark.

If you make $250,000 or more in 2010 you will end up with about $167,500 left over to live on. Even in an expensive economy like the United States, it is not too difficult to live on that amount of money. If your daily life adds up to more than $167,000 in annual expenses you should probably spend less money.

Republicans, and some conservative Democrats, seem to think that the richest people in the United States create jobs for the rest of us. They do not. Just because your boss makes $250,000 does not mean your employment is dependent on him or her. To the contrary, if your boss made less money your company could afford to hire more employees who actually do the work 40 hours per week.

The idea that we, the normal hard workers of main stream America, are somehow beholden unto the rich is foolish. The idea that the rich are somehow encumbered by the taxes of our society is just as foolish.

We all live in an American community. There is nothing wrong with sharing. When you pay income taxes you support schools and roads and police departments from which the entire nation can benefit. Your taxes support the military that keeps this nation safe, and support the government that keeps it all running.

We all benefit from living in this society. More importantly we have all benefited from the government running up debt while cutting taxes. Some have benefited more than others, and now is the time for them to start paying it forward by paying it back.

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