Are you concerned about how the coming changes in Washington might affect your tax burden? Considering how little I earn on an annual basis, I'm not too worried about it myself. In fact, I'll probably be scheduled to receive a modest handout. However, an Associated Press report, provided by ESPN, indicates that the personal agents who serve baseball players are already looking for ways to side step the coming income tax increases.

Under a potential Obama tax plan, income earners who receive more than $250,000 in annual compensation will see their top tax rate raise from 35 percent, up to 39.6 percent. That can take away a whole lot of your hot dog money if you're one of "the boys of summer." A player earning a contract salary similar to Jose Canseco, who earned $3 million in the 2000 season, now has good reason to look for some more tax loopholes.

Big salary baseball players won't be the only ones affected by these tax changes however. There are a whole lot of Joe the Plumber types who will feel this potential new tax grab. For instance, when I operated my feed store, I had gross sales of $249,000 for the last year I operated that shop. Because I operated as a sole proprietorship, that money was taxed as adjusted gross personal income. An increase, such as the one we're now looking at, would probably have hit me right between the eyes eventually. Never mind the fact that on a good week I only took home about $600 in actual, pre-tax, personal income.

So, as you quietly accept the coming tax increases, which you believe are simply taking from the rich, and giving to guys like me, say a little prayer for Joe the Plumber, Frank the Electrician, and Harriet the Beauty Shop Owner. They have their money taxed before they get to put it back into their businesses. That's where our "change" is coming from.