Stories from Everywhere: What $40 Means to You

Posted by Megan Slack on December 21, 2011 at 11:17 AM EST

Ed. Note: Today at 3:30 pm EDT, Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council will be holding a session of Office Hours on Twitter.  He’ll be on the @WHLive account answering questions about the payroll tax cut extension.  Ask your question now and during the live event on Twitter using the hashtag #WHChat.

“$40 less a paycheck means I will have to pick between my insulin and the water bill. It means never being able to see my doctor - even though I have insurance.”               

B.T. Roswell, New Mexico

“Right now, I am unable to pay all my bills every month; $40 less would mean my son and I would be going without groceries or another bill would have to wait and be late.”

P.B., Liberal, Kansas

$40.00 means the world to me. It's the equivalent of 5 hours work or feeding my family for 3 nights.

T.K. Gaylord, Michigan

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These are just a few of the 18,000 stories Americans from all over the country submitted through our website since yesterday afternoon, when we asked people to tell us how losing $40 each paycheck—what the typical family would pay in additional taxes if the payroll tax cut expires—would affect them.

And when we asked “What does #40dollars mean to you?” on Twitter,  the hashtag #40dollarsstarted trending almost immediately, not just nationwide, but worldwide, as a result of people sharing their stories there.

As Republicans in the House dig in and refuse to even vote on extending the payroll tax cut, we want to make sure your voice is heard.

Share your own story here, or tweet @WhiteHouse with the hashtag #40dollars, and tell us what you would have to cut or go without if you had $40 less to spend with each paycheck.

Below, read more of the stories we’ve already collected, and check back throughout the day for updates. Or read more of the responses we've gotten on Twitter with Storify.

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$40 is the difference between our second grade son being able to sign up for an extracurricular activity (soccer, chess, swimming, etc.) or not.

J.E., Ann Arbor, Michigan

$40 means that one of my children can get a much needed dental check up.

A.A., Albuquerque, New Mexico

$40.00 a paycheck means $1040.00 a year for me. With 3 children in Catholic schools, that represents 2 months, 1.5 months, or 1 month tuition for one of my children. I'm also trying to save for their college plans and while $1000.00 doesn't go too far with college tuition, it certainly helps. 

W.J., Westminster, MD

What $40 a paycheck means to me is buying books for my daughter so she can learn the importance of reading and learning.  My husband and I believe in the power of reading and that is something we have agreed to focus on with our children. 

A.G., Murfreesboro, Tennessee

It means that I will have to borrow that much more for my daughter's college education.  I'm 69 years old, still working for the foreseeable future, and would like to know that at this stage of my life I don't have to borrow anymore.

D.D., Dover, Massachusetts

On a social worker's salary... $40 is diapers, baby food, and gas in the car.  Barely. 

                C.M., Beverly, Massachusetts

Without the $40 a paycheck, I will have to cancel my life insurance (I still have a son on my health insurance), cut back on groceries, and delay doctor and dental appointments.

                M.E., Madison, Wisconsin

$40 bucks a paycheck is HUGE for me.  I am supporting my adult daughter and her four children.  By not passing the extended payroll tax cut they are literally taking food from my grandkids' mouths.

                K.J., Sacramento, California

It is taking me two jobs to survive right now and at this point, $40 could make or break my household.  It may not seem like a lot to some but is very valuable to me.  Every penny of my paycheck goes to some type of household expense.

             C.L., Timberlakenn, North Carolina          

#40dollars is the difference between having food for the next week and not eating at all.

@kkwilson24

#40dollars is my busticket home from school for the holidays.

@chaniesparks

#40dollars is half of my grocery budget for the week for my family.

@wmmjones

With #40dollars, I could buy 2 tubs of baby formula.

@suneerc

#40dollars is the cost of my monthly blood test to make sure my #Crohns meds aren't making me sick.

@crohnietweets

#40dollars less per paycheck would mean fewer fresh fruits & veggies in my fridge or less to save to buy a home

@LMKadams

#40dollars out of my fathers paycheck means we lose the house or car... We cannot afford to cut back anymore than we already have.

@richardbrannon

#40dollars per week is EXACTLY my children's health insurance premium.

@alanlbritt

#40dollars means 8 new books for my classroom.

@MrShullsClass

#40dollars one prescription to keep me pain free for a month

@Akoma0224

#40dollars means I don't have to pick up an extra shift to live while doing 19 credit hours at college.

@adamant1988

#40dollars keeps the heat on in our house each month.

@DaveBuchholz41

#40dollars pays for over a week of groceries – fresh fruits, veggies, dairy, whole wheat bread

@mattyigreene

#40dollars $40 is the ability to buy one last Christmas present for my family at the local gift shop.

@marjie01

#40dollars is 2/3 of a day's work for me. I use that money to pay for books for my graduate school courses.

@jfanaselle

#40dollars is my nausea medication so I can survive at work, since I was denied SSD despite being on chemo and radiation.

@chicachericola

What Does $40 Mean to You?

Posted by Megan Slack on December 20, 2011 at 01:16 PM EST

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the payroll tax cut during a statement in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Dec. 20, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

House Republicans are refusing to extend the payroll tax cut, which expires on December 31. If it does, taxes will go up for 160 million working Americans. Nearly everyone--from President Obama to Congressional Democrats to Republicans in the Senate--is committed to making sure that doesn't happen, but a faction in the House is dragging their feet.

Ending the payroll tax cut will cost the typical family making $50,000 a year about $1,000 a year, which is a lot of money for struggling families. President Obama explained today:

Our failure to do this could have effects not just on families but on the economy as a whole. It’s not a game for the average family, who doesn’t have an extra 1,000 bucks to lose. It’s not a game for somebody who’s out there looking for work right now, and might lose his house if unemployment insurance doesn’t come through. It’s not a game for the millions of Americans who will take a hit when the entire economy grows more slowly because these proposals aren’t extended.

That $1,000 a year works out to about $40 a paycheck that families won’t have to spend or save. Although opponents of the payroll tax cut might say $40 isn't much, we know that’s not the case. So we’re asking Americans to explain what that tax increase would look like in their house.

What does $40 mean to you? What will you and your family have to cut or go without if Congress refuses to pass the payroll tax cut?

Here are some of the stories we’ve collected so far. Tell us your own story here, or tweet @WhiteHouse with the hashtag #40dollars, to help us add to the list.

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I can buy lunch from the cafeteria for almost a whole month for my twins, I can buy food, or pay for gas. I can save it for my daughter’s prescriptions deductibles.  To some people $40 is nothing, but $40 is big money for us.

L.A., Hamden, Connecticut

Forty dollars a paycheck is a lot of money. I am the primary care giver for my 91 year old father who is living with me. Though his estate pays me for his care, the $40 will help with groceries, gasoline and miscellaneous expense for his care. I work a part time job so $40 a paycheck is a lot of money extra in my pocket.

I.O., Arlington Heights, Illinois

After everything that comes out, including my mortgage my take home pay is $150.00 every two weeks. So minus forty would be $110.00. I can barely get by now, that forty bucks is my gas for my car to get to work. Taking forty away from my pay would, just about put me under.

R.T., Charleston, West Virginia

$40 less a paycheck means I will have to pick between my insulin and the water bill. It means never being able to see my doctor - even though I have insurance.

B.T., Roswell, New Mexico

A single mother of two, with no financial support from my children's father, 40 dollars means lunch money for my children at school. It means a tank of gas, and it means covering my weekly visit copays to the doctor.

L.O., Gaithersburg, Maryland

90 days of prescription drugs

P.B., Milledgeville, Georgia

$40.00 a week will provide gas to get to work for the week, or, it will pay our electric bill, or, it will pay a third of our prescription drug bill, or, one third of our grocery bill for the week.

C.W., Glen Alen, Virginia

That buys my gas for a week to drive to work or buys my groceries for a week.  it's hard enough making ends meet and $40 is a lot of money to me.

T.S., Kernersville, North Carolina

$40 dollars equals no car insurance for the month, which is required in the state of Wisconsin. A huge risk to take. Let me ask you this--would you drive without insurance?

H.L, Waukesha, Wisconsin

$40.00 a paycheck takes care of my son's lunch money and transporation to Palm Middle School where he is a 6th grade honor student. My husband and I both work and we have a family of 6.

T.M., Moreno Valley, California

That is almost 1 weeks of groceries for me or how much it costs to fill my gas tank for 1 1/2 weeks or medical copay at the specialist office. Which one am I to go without? This is going to hurt. Please don't let this happen.

C.H, Denton, Texas

Right now, I am unable to pay all my bills every month; forty dollars less would mean my son and I would be going without groceries or another bill would have to wait and be late.

P.B., Liberal, Kansas

The forty dollars means that my kids can continue to wear decent clothes and I can afford to give them them opportunity to participate in school programs that are not funded through the State and Federal funding.

J.R., Brainerd, Minnesota

$40.00 a paycheck will allow me to continue to pay co-pays to doctors for necessary medical treatments needed to control debilitating disease.

J.R., Arlington, Texas

$40 a paycheck for my family helps pay for insulin, syringes, and blood sugar testing strips for my daughter, who was diagnosed with type I diabetes 5 years ago.

N.F., Midwest City, Oklahoma

$40.00 per paycheck means the difference in putting gas in my car or walking to work.  I am the only one working in my family, 30 hrs a week, my husband is on Social Security. We have had to cut all extras' from our budget.

K.H., Kalispell, Montana

$40 means a tank of gas to my husband and me for getting to work for him or for me to run errands and take my father-in-law to his doctors's appointments.  $40 means less groceries we can buy.  $40 means less money to pay our light bill, water bill or other essential bills. 

V.C., Russellville, Tennessee

The $40 I would lose is money I send to help my brother.  He has had a myriad of health problems over the past two years and has only been able to work intermittently. He was recently diagnosed with inoperable cancer and has no health insurance.  Without what some say isn't a lot of money, my brother wouldn't have food in his refrigerator.

S.K., Somerville, Massachusetts

$40 means the difference to me in buying gas or paying my electric bill.  I am disabled so I am on a very extreme tight monthly income.  Food is always an issue for me as well.

L.P., Forest Grove, Oregon

$40 is the tank of gas I need to get to work every two weeks.  $40 is less than what I spend on groceries every week.  $40 could also be the cost of me taking my fiancee out to dinner, or to see a movie.  $40 could be the deciding factor on whether I can afford to buy a new car.  $40 is less than half the cost of my electric bill every month.  $40 might not be a lot to someone who makes more than $500,000 a year, like most of our Senators and Representatives.  But when someone makes less than $30,000 a year, it makes an impact.

C.D., Phoenix, Arizona

$40 can make a huge difference to me. It can pay for my most needed medicine that will allow me to keep working so that I can pay my rent and utility bills. It will keep my kids warm and dry. To those of us that only take home about $40 a day, it is a whole days work!

D.P., San Antonio, Texas

Normally any extra money I have.  I give to the needy.  Salvation Army is my favorite charity. So I wont be giving to charites or buying anything for anyone.

P.C., Lakeville, Minnesota

$40.00 means the world to me  It's the equivilant of 5 hours work or feeding my family for 3 nights.  I am a single income of a family of 3 and I don't even make 50K.

T.K., Gaylord, Michigan

Our cable internet bill is $49 per month.  If we lose this payroll tax cut then we will have to give up either or internet access or possibly our 'Friday Family Pizza' night.  Either way, we will lose something that brings us together as a family. 

K.Z., Frederick, Maryland

Tell us what $40 means to you

If the House of Representatives fails to extend the payroll tax cut in the next nine days, the typical family making $50,000 a year will have about $40 less to spend or save with each paycheck. Over the year, that adds up to about $1,000. 

Opponents of the payroll tax cut dismissed its impact by insisting $40 isn’t a lot of money. We know that's not the case for many families who are already working hard to make ends meet, so on Tuesday, we asked them: What does $40 mean to you?

The response was overwhelming: more than 30,000 people have submitted responses through WhiteHouse.gov since Tuesday afternoon, and thousands more tweeted what $40 meant to them with the hashtag #40dollars. Responses came from all over the country and all 50 states, as represented on the map here. We’ve called out the stories of just a few of the many, many people who told us that losing $40 each paycheck would have serious consequences for them and their families.

You can read more here and here, and also on Storify. And don't forget to share your own story here, or tell us on Twitter with the hashtag #40dollars.

The Republican response payroll tax extension

Dec 20, 2011

U.S. Capitol

Speaker Boehner spoke to reporters about the House vote in favor of rejecting the Senate-passed bill on extending the Social Security payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

Republicans and their so called bullying......

U.S. Capitol

House Republican leaders spoke to reporters about extending the Social Security payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. They said a two-month extension would hurt small businesses and urged Democrats to appoint negotiators to work on a year-long bill.

Speaker Boehner 'graciously' accepts Senate's Bill

C-SPAN U.S. Capitol

Speaker Boehner spoke about House Republicans' decision to accept Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's proposal to end the House-Senate impasse on extending Social Security payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. The agreement is that Senate Majority Leader Reid will appoint conference committee members in exchange for House passage of the Senate's already-passed two-month extension. He responded to questions from reporters.

Senate agreeing to committee and adjorning until Dec 27th.

U.S. Senate

The House passed by unanimous consent to the compromise Social Security payroll tax holiday extension.

See Republican Cave..........Democrat wins

U.S. House of Representatives

The House passed by unanimous consent to the compromise Social Security payroll tax holiday extension.

See Republican Run................... from the problems

U.S. House of Representatives

As the speaker walked off the platform during a pro forma session, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer called on House Republicans to allow a vote on Senate-passed legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. Mr. Hoyer then yielded to Representative Chris Van Hollen, who could not be heard as the House recording studio turned off microphones. Normally microphones are shut off as soon as sessions gavel out.