[Boston-editorial] Tax Day column from Responsible Wealth member

[Betsy Leondar-Wright]

Tax Me More
By Heleny Cook

This Tax Day, I'm telling Congress to stop giving me tax breaks. I'm
wealthy. I don't need them, and they're bad for our country.
 
As a teacher, I can't look my students in the eye and tell them millionaires
should get tax cuts while schools and libraries are hit with budget cuts.
 
As a citizen, I can't face a military family and tell them they should
sacrifice while millionaires get tax breaks.
 
The budgets passed by the House and Senate deserve an F for economics and
ethics.
 
It's irresponsible to dig our nation deeper into debt to give tax breaks to
millionaires.
 
It's immoral to cut health care and child care to give tax cuts to
millionaires.
 
Our government is not fulfilling the promise of equal opportunity for
children, it is undoing it.
 
Households with incomes above $1 million got tax cuts averaging $123,600
last year. That tax break could cover the pay of three teachers.
 
Tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent will cost more than $1 trillion over
the next ten years if they are made permanent.
 
That translates into $300 million a day less for education and public health
and safety. It means $300 million a day less for clean water, clean air and
renewable energy, $300 million a day less to invest in research, job
training and small business development.
 
Federal tax revenues have fallen to their lowest level as a share of the
economy since the 1950s. Medicare and Medicaid didn't even exist in the
1950s.
 
We can't build 21st century education and healthcare on a 1950s tax base.
 
We're becoming a society increasingly divided between haves and have-nots.
The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle
class is one layoff or illness away from bankruptcy.
 
The tax system is being reshaped so that a growing share of tax revenue
comes from workers' paychecks and a shrinking share comes from wealthy
investors. Already I pay a larger share of my teaching income in taxes than
I pay from the income I earn on my inherited investments. That's wrong.
 
Instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires like me, we should invest in
the education and research that are essential to our nation's progress.
 
Instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires like me, we should fully fund
Head Start and assure that no one is closed out of college because they
can't afford to go.
 
Instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires like me, we should invest in
affordable housing and health care.
 
Instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires like me, we should strengthen
Social Security.
 
Instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires like me, we should invest in
renewable energy sources so we can reduce our dependence on oil and other
fossil fuels that damage the environment and spark international conflicts.
 
Public opinion polls show that most Americans believe it is more important
to have a strong safety net and fund education, environmental protection,
health care, Social Security and other vital services than cut taxes. A
majority says it's more important to reduce the deficit than to reduce
taxes. Most Americans believe that upper-income people pay too little in
federal taxes, not too much.
 
It's time for Congress to act on these priorities. It's time for Congress to
stop robbing the poor and middle class to give to the rich. It's time for
Congress to support the goal of equal opportunity instead of undermining it.
 
When I paid my taxes this year, I also took action to change irresponsible
tax policies. I'm supporting the Responsible Tax Pledge sponsored by
Responsible Wealth, a national network of businesspeople, investors and
other affluent Americans concerned about growing inequality and working for
more widely shared prosperity.
 
I'm donating my 2004 tax cut to organizations fighting for fair, adequate
and responsible taxes. My students deserve no less.

 
Heleny Cook is a member of Responsible Wealth (www.responsiblewealth.org)
and a high school English teacher in Washington, DC. She can be reached at
helenyc at comcast.net.
 

628 words


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Betsy Leondar-Wright
Communications Director, United for a Fair Economy
(617) 423-2148 x113
29 Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108
http://www.FairEconomy.Org


United for a Fair Economy is an independent national organization
that raises awareness of the damaging consequences of concentrated
wealth and power.

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