{"id":7484,"date":"2007-04-16T10:21:44","date_gmt":"2007-04-16T15:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/04\/16\/tax-day-self-pity-and-better-attit"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:50","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:50","slug":"tax-day-self-pity-and-better-attitudes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/04\/16\/tax-day-self-pity-and-better-attitudes\/","title":{"rendered":"tax day: self-pity and better attitudes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We don’t know who Googled [opposite of self-pity<\/em>]<\/a> yesterday afternoon, April 15.\u00a0 The searcher found his or her way to f\/k\/a<\/em>, because the very first Google result (out of over a million) was our Thanksgiving 2005 posting “self-pity: the opposite of thanksgiving<\/a>.”\u00a0 There’s a good chance the querist was an American despairing over his or her last-minute income tax preparation chores.\u00a0 If so,\u00a0I hope the message in our Thanksgiving piece brought some peace of mind.<\/p>\n

We discussed Ted Koppel’s last Nightline<\/em> show.\u00a0 \"MorrieDVD\" the movie<\/font><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Ted decided to bow out by reprising highlights from his acclaimed interviews with Morrie Schwartz, the wise retired professor who wanted to talk about dying (he had ALS), and who became the subject of Mitch Albom\u2019s mega-hit book, Tuesdays with Morrie<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 Despite their popularity, the Albom book and the Nightline interviews contain much wisdom about dying and living with dignity, grace, humor and hope.\u00a0\u00a0 In a nation where we find rampant discontent, among people enjoying a myriad of blessings, Morrie Schwartz\u2019s refusal to wallow in self-pity as he lost control of his body and neared death, is not merely a good example — it is a recipe for much fuller and happier lives.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TuesdaysMorrieCover\"\u00a0\u00a0Albom asked Morrie if he ever felt sorry for himself.\u00a0 Morrie replied that he cried a little first thing in the morning, as he surveyed which parts of his body he could still move, adding,\u00a0\u201cMitch, I don\u2019t allow myself any more self-pity than that.\u00a0 A little each morning, and few tears, and that\u2019s all . . . \u201cIt\u2019s only horrible if you see it that way.\u201d\u00a0 The next result to the Google query had a similar message.\u00a0 See “Torah with Morrie<\/a>,” by Rabbi Boruch Leff, who says: “The essential ingredient of our joy is not what we have but what we are and how we think. We can control our thoughts and attitudes.”<\/p>\n

Tax Day. Which emoticon did you choose?\u00a0 \"tax<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, if you’re the kind of Tax Whiner who needs a kick in the butt rather than a few words of philosophic wisdom, before improving your attitude toward rendering to Caesar, feel free to check out any or all of our prior Tax Day harangues:<\/p>\n

\n
– <\/font>Trying to Tolerate Tax-Whiners<\/font><\/a>\u00a0(2003) <\/font><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

– <\/font>Tax-Whiner-Free Zone<\/font><\/a>\u00a0 (2004)<\/font><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
– <\/font>taxes and sycophants in athens<\/font><\/a>\u00a0(2005)<\/font><\/div>\n
– ghosts of tax days past<\/a> [The Easter Carol<\/em>]\u00a0(2006)<\/div>\n
tax day \u2014\u00a0\u00a0 \"erasingS\"\u00a0<\/font>
\na battery-powered breeze
\nstirs the desk chimes<\/div>\n

nearly dark–
\nsnow deepens
\non the baseball field<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
. . . . . . ………… by billie wilson<\/a>\u00a0
\n\u201cnearly dark\u201d – Acorn 15 (2005); “tax day”\u00a0– \u00a0The Heron\u2019s Nest<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"QkeyNs\"\u00a0\"sKeyNs\"\u00a0\u00a0 q.s. quickies\u00a0 <\/em>There are a number of tax-related articles in today’s New York Times<\/em> (April 16, 2007) that merit a mention and a look:<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. In “A Few Good Lawyers<\/a>,” Columbia Law School dean and tax lawyer David M. Schizer says that
    \n“The tax system can be only as strong as the people who run it, so the government has to recruit and retain the most promising talent.”\u00a0 He stresses that\u00a0senior IRS lawyers make only 10% of the million-dollars+ a year tax partners bring down in law firms. \u00a0His solution, of course, is to have the Government pay a lot more for its tax lawyers.\u00a0 Dean Schizer makes me rather nostaligic for the days when we served the public without needed to become millionaires.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  2. David Cay Johnston notes in “I.R.S. Audits Middle Class More Often, More Quickly<\/a>,” the the I.R.S. has nearly tripled audits of tax returns filed by people making $25,000 to $100,000 since 2000.<\/li>\n
  3. The NYT editorial Cleaning up the alternative tax<\/a> correctly argues that “The alternative tax should be reformed so that it does what it is supposed to do: make wealthy taxpayers with excessive tax shelters pay up.” Of course, only capturing the very rich with AMT will require that monies be recouped elsewhere.\u00a0 The editorial\u00a0suggests how to do\u00a0that, noting\u00a0“The lower rate for capital gains is one of the biggest breaks in the code. But under the law, capital gains are not classified as sheltered income subject to the alternative tax.”\u00a0 That should be fixed when AMT is repaired —\u00a0 capital gains\u00a0should be\u00a0treated the same as other tax breaks under the alternative tax.<\/li>\n
  4. In “Tax Returns Rise for Immigrants in U.S. Illegally<\/a>,” by Nina Bernstein, we learn that\u00a0many illegal immigrants\u00a0feel an obligation to pay their share of taxes, and others\u00a0hope to create a paper trail that could lead to citizenship one day.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    tax audit \u2014
    \ndents in damp grass
    \nfrom the mower\u2019s wheels<\/p>\n

    ………………………… by michael dylan welch<\/a> – The Heron\u2019s Nest<\/em> (July 2004)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    p.s.<\/strong> Blawg Review<\/em> has literally and figuratively “gone to the dogs,” with Sheryl Schelin’s posting today of Blawg Review #104<\/a> at her SC Employment Law<\/em> weblog.\u00a0 Don’t let allergies to canine creatures or concept-carnivals keep you for checking out Bad Dog’s discussion of the best lawblog posting from the past week.\u00a0 Thanks to Bad Dog for pointing (unmentionably) to our Saturday post on softpornEsq<\/a><\/em> and the First Amendment. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

    <\/font><\/div>\n

    <\/blockquote>\n

    <\/font><\/div>\n

    <\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We don’t know who Googled [opposite of self-pity] yesterday afternoon, April 15.\u00a0 The searcher found his or her way to f\/k\/a, because the very first Google result (out of over a million) was our Thanksgiving 2005 posting “self-pity: the opposite of thanksgiving.”\u00a0 There’s a good chance the querist was an American despairing over his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-viewpoint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1WI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12562,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7484\/revisions\/12562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}