Thanks To Mitt, I'll Remember I Am A Lazy, Irresponsible 47%er When I'm Cleaning Toilets Tonight

I guess I'm one of the 47% that Romney rails about. I didn't know I was "lazy" when I was six years old picking strawberries, beans and cherries every summer until I was old enough to work on a farm with cattle, pigs, and spearmint. I didn't make enough in a summer to pay federal tax but my paycheck did include payroll taxes. Likewise, working through college and grad school I never made enough to pay fedeal taxes. But many jobs were paid "in kind", such as free meals at the Student Union in exchange for washing dishes or waiting tables at the fraternity for a place to sleep.

If I "mooched" on anyone it was those good people who helped me find jobs like babysitting a computer system all night (so no need to spend money on rent). Or it was my parents who held a single GED and worked four jobs between them but sent five children and four grandchildren to college and beyond. My computer experience led to a charmed career in international marketing of IT, where I traveled the world and got paid for it! Believe me I was not happy to pay A LOT of taxes of all kinds for over 30 years but I certainly understood why it was the right thing to do.

And when after five decades I had to stop working for health reasons, I am thrilled that Obama passed the stimulus, longer UI, subsidized COBRA, ObamaCare, etc. - and even brought my portfolio back to life. Thanks to those lifelines, my wife and I now run a vacation rental in such a way to bring joy to hundreds of our guests. But the business doesn't yet run a profit so we don't pay income taxes yet.

So my count is I paid federal income taxes in just 30 of 53 working years in my nearly six decades of life. Thanks to Mittens I'll remember that I'm a lazy, irresponsible 47-percenter when I clean the toilet bowl in the guesthouse tonight.

End of rant.

more letters:
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/09/letters-from-the-47.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Daily+Dish%29