There was a time when my wife had to wait to bake Christmas cookies for our family. We waited until we received an annual gift of butter. I was on the staff of a church, and every year a certain couple in our congregation gave each staff member a five-pound tub of butter. We had to wait to bake our cookies because we could not afford to buy butter.
In those days, I supplemented my modest salary from the church by teaching piano lessons to children. Because most of my students were from the congregation, I held my fees low. I kept track of my earnings, and, though I was paid in cash, each year I reported to the IRS my earnings, which were subject to both income taxes and self-employment taxes.
Had I known then that a billionaire could boast of not paying income taxes and be elected president, I might have neglected to report my cash earnings to the IRS. They maybe we could have afforded to buy our own butter.
David Tryggestad
Duluth
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