$314

Well, it looks like my family will be paying $314 a month more in taxes this year (so far). Guess it’s all part of the rich One-Percenters like me paying their fair share. Thanks for the leadership, Mr. Obama. Keep stimulating that economy.

In all seriousness, this is something like a $3,800 annual burden we now have to budget for that we didn’t have to in 2012. The wife and I are solidly middle-class living in a decidedly expensive area of the country. Unfortunately, we can’t just up and move because houses around here don’t sell.

So, we have to cut back spending that $314 a month (on home repair, dinners out, clothing, movies, maybe a big item piece of furniture, maybe an electronic gadget, perhaps a weekend getaway or summer camp). The problem is, we don’t spend $314 a month on discretionary items. We have to make more to pay the government.

Economic illiterates, see how higher taxes kill the economy?