Mississippi River, the longest river of North America, draining with its major tributaries an area of approximately 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square km), or about one-eighth of the entire continent. The Mississippi River lies entirely within the United States. Rising in Lake Itasca in Minnesota, it flows almost due south across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its major tributaries, the Missouri River (to the west) and the Ohio River (to the east), approximately halfway along its journey to the Gulf of Mexico through a vast delta southeast of New Orleans, a total distance of 2,340 miles (3,766 km) from its source. With its tributaries, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two provinces in Canada.
The whole point of taxes is to raise money to help pay for programs and services authorized by state and federal governments. Here are some examples of what your federal and state income taxes help to provide. Federal taxes help pay for: National defense – Securing America and protecting its interests overseas. If you file your taxes but don't pay them, the IRS will charge you a failure-to-pay penalty. The penalty is far less: Generally, the IRS will charge you 0.5 percent of your unpaid taxes for each month you don't pay, up to 25 percent. Interest also accrues on your unpaid taxes.