Oh, I could complain about my taxes this year, but everybody pays taxes. Those of us who are self-employed, with irregular bits of income, feel the sting of the tax law only once a year instead of every pay period, so we holler a little more than those of you who adjust the sliders on your W-9 so that the 1040 comes close to zero at the bottom, right? So we all pay taxes. Self-employment taxes, which are for Social Security, feel like punishment when they are paid, but we all pay the same amount; on your behalf your employer contributes another 100% of what you pay as withholding. Yeah.

I also could complain why the I-9 never enters into the conversation–you know, political and social reality–when we fling monkey poo at each other over “illegal” immigration.

I also could complain about election day being so far removed from Tax Day. Yeah! Let’s get fired up! I’ve got gasoline! Who’s got matches?!? Burn it all down!

What I will complain about is this:

These are the forms necessary for a self-employed married person filing jointly with multiple sources of income who earns way, way less than $100,000. My accountant came up to me (with a fat bill invoice, too), saying, “You earned too much money this year.” Huh?

I didn’t qualify for certain deductions, and my Earned Income Credit was reduced, despite have an extra kid on the thing, and my health care costs didn’t apply to what-have-you, and so on and so forth until my eyes glazed over, my heart grew heavy, and my ears dull. Sighing, I made arrangements to pay the government, then I wrote a check to pay the accountant.

Perhaps my outcry this year will be the drop of water that causes the water to flow over the dike, flooding the plain.

Probably not. I’ll see you here next year, with another cri de coeur.