My latest LTE to my local hometown conservative newspaper can be found here. Since my first letter on the subject the local Conservatives have been hammering me pretty good and have written a few letters themselves. What is interesting is that most people including those on our side cannot see the truth of what I am saying.
Income inequality with the exception of climate change is the problem of our times not only here but around the world. I believe the uber wealthy paying far less of their income by percentage in taxes is the driving force of this problem. We have to hammer home the truth of this for most people are unaware of the situation
Here is my letter:
It is interesting to read the comments of the conservatives to the thesis I laid out in my previous letter. I said that when you take into account all the taxes, whatever type, the über-rich such as Mitt Romney pay less in percentage than a minimum-wage worker and clearly less than a middle-class person. They have made no credible argument against this for it is the simple truth.
Mr. Baxter keeps saying that über-rich liberals pay less, too, so I guess that somehow makes it right. Mr. Liebich and Mr. Baxter keep harping on me to say what is their fair share, as if that is argument against my thesis. I am not advocating a solution but pointing out the problem. It seems as though they recognize the truth of what I am saying, but do not think it is a problem. They think it is OK that the über-rich pay less in percentage in taxes.
The economy is an engine that people who participate in make money because of its existence. If it did not exist, they would not be able to make any money. The economy requires money to maintain its ability for all of us to make a living from it. The fact that those who make the most money from it pay less in percentage on maintenance fees (taxes and fees) is unfair and frankly immoral. This situation has led to what most economists believe is the main problem of our time, which is income inequality.
Mr. Baxter would have you believe it is because all of a sudden, since Reagan, the American people have become lazy bums and moochers. The reality is that the über-wealthy, through buying lobbyists, the Republican Party and some Democrats, have shifted the real tax burden to the middle class through the tax code. This has hollowed out the middle class, and if this situation continues it will disappear.
Mr. Baxter is right when he talks about there being moochers. It is the über-wealthy.