LETTER: Wealthy must pay fair share

To the Telegram:

The occupiers of the on-going, worldwide movement, which began as “Occupy Wall Street,” have addressed many issues. One of the issues is tax equity, everyone needs to pay their fair share in taxes. Another issue is the collapse of our economy due to the reckless conduct of the people on Wall Street. A recent article in Sojourners Magazine, July, 2011, about John Paulson, a hedge fund manager, is all the more relevant now that these protests are taking place.

I will quote from the article, written by Elizabeth Palmberg, an associate editor of Sojourners.

“Last year, Manhattan hedge fund manager John Paulson took home $4.9 billion in pay. Before the crash, Paulson helped inflate the housing bubble by designing junk mortgage-backed securities for Goldman Sachs-and then profited by betting that those very securities would fail. Yet instead of being run out of business, last year he made about a billion and a half more than the federal food stamp program spent in all of New York City.

The economic evidence is clear. Inequality this stark kills jobs. When people in the middle and working class make a decent income, their purchases fuel the real economy.”

To quote Timothy Smeeding, director of the UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty: “It’s really bad out there.” “This report (from the U.S. Census Bureau) is the worst report I’ve seen in 30 years.” How well all of us in the middle and working class know. The poverty rate in the U.S. reached 15.1 percent in 2010 the highest rate since 1993. The poverty rate for children rose from 20.7 percent to 22 percent. Think of it. Almost one quarter of our children live in poverty, here in America. We should be outraged.

The evidence of this poverty is seen and felt in the small community I live in, as well as all over this country. The local food shelf fills backpacks with food for children for the weekend. Another small group fills backpacks for the homeless children. These backpacks have a blanket, a book, and a few other objects that belong to the child to call his or her own. Thankfully, the communities are working together to help the most vulnerable.

The demonstrators on Wall Street and across the country are demanding that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. But our legislators in Washington, D.C., Senator Ron Johnson and Representative Sean Duffy, have signed a pledge (The Norquist Pledge) NEVER to raise taxes even on people like John Paulson who made billions “betting that those securities would fail;” consequently, bringing on the greatest recession since the Great Depression.

Here are some questions to the reader:

Do you believe that people like John Paulson, who made billions and have hurt so many people in this recession, should pay a larger portion in taxes?

Do you believe that other wealthy individuals should pay their fair share in taxes? Even President Reagan said the wealthy should pay their “fair share” when he, along with Congress, changed the tax code in 1986.

Have you called Senator Johnson (202-224-5323) and Representative Sean Duffy (202-225-3365) telling them that you believe the wealthy should pay their fair share in taxes? If you haven’t, please do so. It is especially crucial now to contact our legislators because of the decisions the Super Committee in Congress will be making.

Joyce Luedke

Hayward, Wis.

Tags: opinion, letter