Stay the course
- or maybe not
President Bush tells us if the Democrats take back Congress they will do one thing: "Raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes." And most Democrats say yes, they will raise taxes - by "rolling back the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans."
The two wealthiest men in America, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, agree the current income tax laws favor the wealthy ("Gates and Buffett Go Back to School - PBS, Oct. 26). These two earn their income through stock capital gains and dividends.
Most of this income is taxed at a maximum rate of 15 percent. They point out this is a huge benefit to the very rich and not much relief to those in the workforce. Buffett adds, "...they have really taken care of the rich."
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They go on that the rich should bear a higher proportion of the tax burden than they do, as we need a more progressive tax system to balance the budget. The wealthy could pay higher tax rates than average Americans and still have millions of disposable income to maintain their wealthy lifestyles. It is costing this country $255 million a day to fund the war in Iraq. We can continue to fund this war with deficit spending and pass the problem on to our children and grandchildren. Or we can try to get ahead of the game by funding it with current tax dollars.
Why shouldn't the wealthiest pay more income taxes? In many cases these corporate executives are the ones profiting by this war (e.g. oil company executives, Halliburton executives, etc).
The income gap between the middle class and wealthiest continues to widen. In 1980, corporate executives made 42 times what the average American worker made. Twenty years later corporate executives were making 419 times the average worker. If this continues, our country could end up looking like our neighbors south of the border - the poor and the wealthy with no middle class.
So, when you go to the polls on Election Day you have a choice - vote for the candidates that say stay the course or vote for candidates that want a change in policy.
Fred and Chris Luckeroth
Park Rapids
