Micro, this will make your head explode.
An acquaintance of mine and his wife are musicians in the Army band. They are stationed in the DC Metro area and don't see combat. They have two kids and a small, but nice house. I don't know their salaries, but based on their spending habits, I would guess at least a combined 6 figure income. He has multiple, expensive bikes (he's a very avid cyclist, which is how I know him). Some of his bikes are expensive to the point it would make your eyes bleed if you saw the price tag. He recently (in the past year or two) bought a new car, not an econobox, but a fairly nice Subaru. He's also a gadget-hound (iToys, etc). I point all this out to draw the picture of a comfortable middle-class, maybe upper middle-class lifestyle.
They are raging lefties. He always claims we as Americans don't pay enough taxes. When I suggest he take some of the money he spends on expensive bikes and send that to the US Treasury as a donation to the tax pool (they actually have a process for this), he says it wouldn't do any good because the money wouldn't go where it is needed.
Here's the kicker.
After doing taxes last year, he found out they got a refund $100 GREATER than their total tax liability. In other words, this comfortable middle class family who claims we all don't pay enough taxes got more money back as a refund than they paid in taxes.
Pick your jaw up off the floor.
I paid in a 5-figure sum and got a 3-figure sum as a refund.
Chris
