The headline of the “CNSNews.com” article is enough to make you choke on your bacon: “Feds Collect Record Individual Income Taxes Through May; Still Run $532.2B Deficit”. That ginormous hog known as government overspending is strangling the life out of us. Us as in you and me and the entire U.S. of A.

From the article:

The federal government collected a record $1,143,141,000,000 in individual income taxes through the first eight months of fiscal 2018 (Oct. 1, 2017 through the end of May), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

Despite the record individual income tax collections, the federal government still ran a deficit of $532,241,000,000 over those same eight months, according to the Treasury statement.

In case your eyes were spinning while reading that, that number is over one trillion dollars. One point one trillion dollars collected. AND, the deficit is over half a trillion.

The government has promised spending one third more than what they have collected in tax receipts from individuals. This cannot continue. Yet it does. If an individual spends more than they make, it leads to disaster. The individual spends her life trying to run ever faster to make more money or defaults on the credit and you and I end up paying. Sometimes I think it’s a pity we don’t have debtors prison any longer…for Congress. Oink. Oink

Then, the article goes on about “corporate taxes”:

Corporation income tax collections have also declined. In the first eight months of fiscal 2018, the Treasury collected $123,707,000,000 in corporation income taxes. That is $46,922,120,000 less (in constant May 2018 dollars) than the $170,629,130,000 in corporation income taxes (in constant May 2018 dollars) that the Treasury collected in the first eight months of fiscal 2017. In fiscal 2007, the Treasury collected a record $255,181,270,000 (in constant May 2018 dollars) in corporation income taxes.

But, but, but, Corporations cannot pay taxes. It must be passed on through to someone else. Want to guess who? You and I are the taxpayers. Forbes.com noted this is not a new phenomenon:

A Congressional Research Service paper uses different assumptions and claims that it is mostly capital, the shareholders in lower returns, who carry the burden.

But do note the one point upon which everyone is agreed: whoever is paying the tax it’s not the company. We’ve known this since 1899 and Edwin Seligman’s “The Shifting And Incidence Of Taxation”.

This is of course a hugely important point. For example, all those who say that “companies should pay more tax” are simply being ignorant. Companies do not pay tax, cannot pay tax, and thus to call for them to pay more is just displaying that ignorance.

Next time some says “corporate taxes” roll your eyes so loud that they can hear it on Capitol Hill. Oink. Oink.

None of us would be kvetching if our roads, bridges and tunnels, along with our airports were well kept and modernized. I actually think I got a traumatic brain injury on a road on Ft. Bragg last month. Sheesh.

We would be happy to pay taxes if our Veterans got first class, high quality care. They don’t. We would be thrilled if money for education went to teachers, students and books. Yes books. Not technology. It doesn’t. And the welfare programs. The redundant, bloated programs. Pork barrel spending and earmarks. Oink. Oink.

We are being strangled by the red tape of government bureaucracy. Here’s a song by Phil King of “Flatcar Rattlers” that explains how Congressional spending affects everyone who works for a living:

Now, if you will excuse all this talk of pigs and pig products has made me hungry. I am going out to my Victory Garden to see if there is a tomato ripe for a bacon and tomato sandwich. Yummy.