Is It Envy?

According to recent press releases, Mitt Romney, candidate for the republican nomination of President, paid $6.2 million dollars in federal taxes on income of $42.5 million dollars. That works out to a tax liability of 14.58%. On the other hand, my income for 2011 was $5871 and the tax liability was $1518 or 25.8%. What might make matter worse is the Romney tax plan he proposes would eliminate all tax on capital gains which would result in Romney with an income of $42.5 million and a tax bill of $0. According to the republican candidates, there should be no tax on capital gains. At what point does one arrive at the conclusion that republican fiscal policies are complete bullshit? We live in a country that presumably is financed by the citizens paying a progressive income tax. Under that system of government financing, there should be no issue whether those with the most income pay the most taxes. However, there should be an issue whether those with 98% of the income pay less than 98% of the taxes. Pointing out that my tax rate was 25.8% while Romney’s tax rate was 14.58% has nothing to do with envy. That disparity in tax rates also has nothing to do with class warfare. The point of that disparity is the reality that the country is not receiving sufficient tax revenues to fund the costs of government. The other point of that disparity is if Romney had received $42.5 million dollars in salary or wages, his taxes would have been on the north side of $16.39 million dollars rather than $6.2 million dollars he is reputed to have paid. That $10.19 million gap in revenue is a good part of why the country is experiencing record deficits. Romney, along with his fellow republicans complain about government spending and government pushing debt onto the backs of children and grandchildren but they are amazingly silent when comparing their tax rates to the rates of people like you and me. They want to reduce my Social Security and Medicare benefits so they pay 14.58% of their income in taxes while at the same time, asking me to pay 25.8% of my income in taxes. Am I envious. No, I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off at the politicians whose greed has trumped their patriotism. I’m pissed off at the politicians that are not satisfied in paying only 14.58% when others pay 25% or more. And, I’m mostly pissed off at people with income like mine who continue to elect assholes who would, if given the opportunity, would eliminate all taxes on capital gains forcing the majority of Americans to pay an even greater share of their income to fund a government that has provided them the opportunities, the benefits, and permitted people to earn incomes in the millions of dollars. Don’t label me envious. Label me mad!