Yesterday, we talked about a non-profit that helps people work towards personal financial responsibility. Today, we’re going to look at an organization that helps our country do it as a group. Imagine that you are at a restaurant. It’s pretty expensive, but you’ve got some money, so you’re going to have a nice dinner. But there’s a twist. Instead of paying for your dinner, you have to pay for the people who sat at your table before you; and the people who sit down next will have to pay for yours. That foie gras is looking good now, isn’t it? This is how the federal government works. They don’t worry about what they can afford now—they just let someone else pay the bill in the future. If the Congressional Budget Office’s latest predictions are any indication, those of us who are in our 20s are going to get stuck with a pretty hefty tab. It’s the biggest problem facing our generation, yet very few people talk about it. We’re going to be the group that gets screwed—the one that has to pay the tab for the people before us while also paying for our own tab. Just you wait. Not only will we be the generation that stumbles into the “real world” due to a terrible recession, but we’ll also be the one that actually pays for everyone else’s extravagance. Luckily, there are organizations like Taxpayers for Common Sense that aim to reign in the federal government’s wasteful spending. They are a Washington, DC based “non-partisan budget watchdog serving as an independent voice for American taxpayers.”

Some Common Sense for Your Job Search

Taxpayers for Common Sense aims for “a government that spends taxpayer dollars responsibly and operates within its means,” which is why they “work with individuals, policymakers, and the media to increase transparency, expose and eliminate wasteful and corrupt subsidies, earmarks, and corporate welfare, and hold decision makers accountable.” The organization was founded in 1995, and in just 15 years of operation has helped save taxpayers more than $5 billion dollars. That’s a huge accomplishment, but it’s scary how small that number is in relation to our nation’s debt. There’s a long way to go, and it seems that our country’s decision makers are only getting more and more spend happy. It appears that Taxpayers for Common Sense is mostly an advocacy and research organization, since they can only really accomplish their goals by bringing light to pertinent issues. If you’d like to join TCS and help ensure that the bill that our generation pays isn’t quite as outrageous as it could be, check out the Taxpayers for Common Sense Jobs page. They offer full-time, paid fellowships in National Security, Water Policy, Communications, Resources Policy, and Organization Development and also have a Research Associate position open. It’s your chance to cut your parents’ credit cards.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• TaxPayer.net
• Jobs at Taxpayers for Common Sense
• About Taxpayers for Common Sense
• Staff at Taxpayers for Common Sense
• Taxpayers for Common Sense’s History
• Taxpayers for Common Sense News

How do you feel about paying taxes?

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