Last night, on the way home from school, my seven year old initiated a conversation about taxes.

Son: Mom, what are taxes?

Me: There are a lot of different taxes, which ones do you want to talk about?

Son: I dunno, which one can you explain to me.

Me: Well, let’s start with income tax. Say you work for someone and you make $100. Taxes are taken out of that money you earned. So let’s say you earned $100 but the taxes are $20 and that $20 goes to the government to pay for things.

Son: TWENTY DOLLARS?? That’s a lot of money.

Me: Well, it depends on how much you earn. The more you earn, the more taxes you pay.

Son: So why would you want to earn a lot? What do they do with the money.

Me: Sometimes, it’s hard to tell but it is suppose to be used for keeping Americans safe and helping the people that live here.

Son: So why don’t the people it’s helping go out and get a job and earn their own money?

Son: What other kind of taxes are there?

Me: Well, there’s property tax that we pay for the houses, there is sales taxes, personal property tax, social security taxes, taxes on cable and internet, taxes on gas, there’s a lot of them.

Son: That stinks.

Yes it does.

Then he went into how his second grade classmates think Obama is going to win.

Son: McCain’s going to win the election.

Me: That’s right but why are you so sure.

Son: At lunch all I hear is Obama, Obama, Obama is going to win.

Me: Okay, but why do know McCain is going to win.

Son: (As he lets out a big sigh) Mom, the kids that say Obama is going to win still believe in Santa Claus.

Gotta love the mind of a seven year old.