More About Taxes

Mitt Romney recently made a big deal out of those Americans who expect entitlements.  He seems to think that a single mother raining two children, having to live on a wage of $10.00 per hour or less should do everything on her own (or maybe ask her parents for a loan).  The real question that should be asked is who costs the government more.  Romney released his 2011 tax return showing that he paid $1.94 million dollars in taxes.  Admittedly, that is a lot of money, but in a progressive tax system where the top earners should pay taxes of 35%, $1.94 million dollars is a far cry from a tax bill of $5.34 million that would be paid if his income had come from salary or if he had won $13.7 million dollars in a lottery.  In addition, Romney did not pay anything towards Social Security or Medicare, unlike the single woman who is paid $10.00 per hour.  While the single woman in this example would not earn enough to pay federal income taxes she would still have payroll taxes deducted from every paycheck she received.  Admittedly, Romney did not do anything illegal, his policies would, if he is elected and these policies are enacted, result in the Romneys of the world paying even lower taxes.  Responsibility on the part of anyone seeking the office of President at a time when the country is in deep debt, should be the willingness to admit that a major reason for the high debt is the reality that too many people with much of the wealth have managed to find ways to avoid paying the legislated tax rates.  These people, including Romney, have utilized loopholes created in the tax code by legislators.  These legislators responded to lobbyists and campaign contributors and created tax legislation that favors the wealthy.  Since 1979, a small percentage of citizens have benefited from these tax codes while the vast majority of Americans have experienced diminished income and diminished wealth.  The result of over thirty years of tax codes favoring the wealthy is a population where almost 50 percent of the people do not earn enough to actually pay federal income tax.  What is even worse, 50 percent of the people can no longer afford anything but the bare necessities of life and that has been part of the cause of the greatest economic downturn since the great depression.  It should be obvious to all who are in a position to craft policy and tax legislation that when people do not earn enough to pay federal income tax they do not earn enough to stimulate demand for products and services that drive the economy.  The supply-side theory, while looking viable on paper has not worked and there is no reason to believe that it will work in the future. All historical economic evidence disproves the theory that lower taxes will result ion more tax revenue.  One might think that after thirty years and the slowest recovery from an economic recession the Republicans, the party of business, would realize that supply-side actually is bad for business.  It is past time to put an end to the various loopholes, exceptions, and exclusions enjoyed by Romney and one way to be certain of putting those policies to an end is to vote to ensure Romney remains an unemployed ex-governor.