Television Show Assignment

Link to TV show
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000001910832/what-is-fair-.html

        Most of the viewers of "What Is a Fair Tax Code?" will come away with the same belief about taxes as they went in with, taxes on the rich should be increased and on the middle class decreased. Everyone has an opinion about what should be done with taxes, but many don't understand the impact of their ideas. All Americans want lower tax rates and government spending to decrease, but most of the government run programs are necessary. The viewers of this show will learn about the impact taxes have had on the "average Joe". Tax increases have put people out of business and therefore out of work. The objective of this story is to increase awareness of the problems with taxes and hopefully get the government to start changing things. The story is showing people that they are not alone when it comes to struggling with taxes. Almost every American wants tax reform and its only a matter of time before they get it.

        I created a survey and went out in the community to ask random people what they thought about taxes. Most of the questions were yes or no answers and below the results are shown. The questions were as follow:

1) Do you think you are over taxed?
Yes - 69%
No - 41%
2) What social class do you think is under taxed?
Poor - 13%
Middle Class - 34%
Rich - 53%
3) Do you believe your tax dollars are well spent?
Yes - 37%
No - 63%
4) What social class do you think is over taxed?
Poor - 23%
Middle Class - 57%
Rich - 20%
5) Should the tax system be changed?
Yes - 86%
No - 14%

        This survey parallels what was done in the TV show "What Is a Fair Tax Code?" because it asks people similar questions. Eau Claire has a relatively low poverty rate compared to other places in the United States, therefore the results of my survey are a little different compared to the show. More people in Eau Claire think that the middle class is over taxed because most of Eau Claire's population is a part of the middle class. This survey made people think more about taxes. I had small conversations with each interviewee and found that a lot of them said that the government should stop spending so much. I responded by explaining that almost every government run program is used by some people in some way. It was alarming how many people never realized how used the programs were. Many people from Eau Claire didn't know how necessary the policies are to help different people in different circumstances. Many citizens just blew it off, but some actually had a change of heart and told me they never realized how many people use the government run programs. Overall, this survey made some people change their views, but many people externalized the information because they don't want to believe that a high school student understands more about their taxes than they do.

Annotated Bibliography

         The television show "What Is a Fair Tax Code?" sheds some light over the person that tax reform effects the most, "the average Joe". In this episode, Shayla Harris travels to southwestern Illinois to get an idea of how taxes have impacted a small town community. He asks many citizens the question "who should pay more in taxes?". This show brings out the voice of the working class and allows people to see the importance of tax reform. This television show does not have bias because the authors never pose their own view. Furthermore, the episode interviews people that have opposing views, it explores both sides of the argument. The information provided is reliable because it is on the New York Times web page. My project's main topic is the idea of the "average Joe" being over taxed. This show utilizes interviews of "average Joe" American citizens which will make my project stronger.

Harris, Shayla, and Appelbaum, Binyamin. "What Is a Fair Tax Code?" Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000001910832/what-is-fair-.html>.