Comment: As a former tax accountant and tax attorney, I HAVE THE SOLUTION TO AMERICA'S UNDERFUNDING. INCREASE the tax rates on taxpayers with taxable incomes in excess of $400,000. THAT WILL MAKE U.S. LEGISLATORS POPULAR WITH THE AMERICAN POPULACE. The rates in effect in the 70's provided the government with the funding that the treasury needs. Effective in 1971, joint returns with taxable incomes in excess of $400,000 paid 70% on the excess. 70%!!!!!!!! (Earned income was taxed at a maximum of 50% in those days, however.) Legislators have been catering to the rich for decades now. The dichotomy between the rich and poor is a national travesty, an international disgrace. Give the middle class a break. The poor should pay no taxes. The lower and middle incomes in the 70's were unjustly taxed. A joint return in 1971 with a $44,000 taxable income was taxed at the 50% rate on the excess. We don't need higher rates on taxable incomes less than $400,000. Add back the income averaging Schedule G which added fairness to the high tax rate. Reinstate an investment tax credit for American made goods. Our economy will prosper. And the most undemocratic tax policy that Congress has considered is the elimination of the ESTATE TAX. Congress is perpetuating an UNJUST, UNEGALITARIAN TAX STRUCTURE. Pathetically, the average American does not realize how the Congress has catered to the very rich. Most accountants and tax attorneys who practiced when the more affluent were forced to subsidize the poor are now wealthy and conservative. We need a voice to disseminate the progressive injustice of the tax structure Congress has installed over the last few decades. When I was a child, the government had enough money to fund so many areas of everyday life. Roads were maintained, libraries were open, universities flourished, businesses blossomed. Congress has contributed to the decline of our standard of living by catering to the (very) rich. I hope you consider this email. Helen Oda Abe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com |