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Show Volume XVI Issue XI The Ogden Valley news Page June 1, 2009 Letters to the Editor The Lower and Middle Classes are to Blame? Utah’s Unfair Tax System In response to Brad Hess’ commentary in the May 15 issue, I would like to say to him, “I’m so sorry, Brad.” I’m sorry you have to live in that big house and pay property taxes. I’m sorry you have to work with lower-class people to whom you pay so little that they pay no income taxes. I’m sorry you have to send your kids to private school and don’t get reimbursed for their education that you could have had for free. I’m sorry you have to pay for stuff like government services and roads, that those lower and middle class loafers are getting for free. I’m sorry that no one is out there protesting the injustice you feel as a result of paying taxes as a wealthy man. I guess you guys are just too busy making money to protest. I’m sorry you are jealous of your employee’s new toy that you think you actually paid for with his payroll taxes. I’m sorry we lower and middle class peons are to blame for your predicament. But I’m glad your kids are getting an education, though, because you, obviously, didn’t have that opportunity. Let me educate you. The taxes you pay for your employee that you think he got back are NOT income taxes. You obviously didn’t take a business class in school (oh, I forgot you didn’t go to school). The tax you pay for the good fortune of having a business and an employee is the “payroll” tax, or Social Security and Medicare. Your employee can get none of that back until he retires at 62 or 65, if he lives that long. By the way, are you providing that employee with health insurance? No? Then he probably won’t live that long and neither of you will get it back. By the way, your employee pays payroll taxes on ALL of his income, while you personally are capped at $102,000 of your income. That calculates to about 20% of the rate your employee pays. My, that doesn’t seem fair at all. If, as you say, your employee got ALL of his income tax withholding back then you are not paying him a wage above neither the poverty line nor minimum wage. Because a single person making less than $8,951 in 2008 pays no income taxes, just Social Security and Medicare. Brad, that’s $4.33 an hour full time, you cheapskate. You, apparently, want the U.S. to switch to what we call a “flat tax” so that everyone pays the same because we’re all Americans. I feel it necessary to weigh in on the tax burden issue, since I campaigned for a seat in the Utah legislature during the debate on income tax reform back in 2006. I’d like to point out two illuminating facts. First, as reported by economist Prof. Michael Hudson, approximately 70% of all rent, capital gain, interest, and dividend payments are collected by the wealthiest 1% of the U.S. taxpayers. In Utah, this represents those taxpayers earning above $250,000 per year. These four income categories are highly sheltered (property depreciation, tax-free bonds, 15% capital gains cap, no FICA tax, etc.) in the federal tax code. This is the reason why Warren Buffet admitted that he paid a smaller percentage in taxes than did his secretary. The tax laws are written by the wealthy for the wealthy. This is why the gap in wealth between the top 1% and the bottom 50% of taxpayers has increased for over 30 years since Reagan’s tax cuts of the 80’s. This wealth gap helps explain the concentration of financial control and, thus, political power in this country. My second point, the tax burden in Utah isn’t flat—that is, it isn’t fair. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that the wealthiest 1% of Utah families (average income $826,000) paid in 2002 a combined property, sales, income tax of 5.5% or 5½ cents on the dollar in taxes. Meanwhile, those families averaging just $20,700 paid 12 cents per dollar in state taxes. Even the typical middleclass family earning $54,400 paid nearly 11 cents per dollar of their wage. When Utah is “labeled” a high tax state, just remember it’s the middleclass that is shouldering the tax burden. The Huntsman income tax changes, You say you don’t care if the flat rate is 10, 35, or 75%. I don’t believe that you don’t care, knowing how cheap you are, but let’s look at two examples: you and your lowly employee. Since most flat tax proponents think the flat rate will be more like 15%, we’ll use that figure. Your lowly employee makes about $9000 a year and will now pay 15% income tax to Uncle Sam. That leaves him $7650 for food, for transportation, for rent, to see a doctor when he gets hurt on the job (because I doubt you’ll pay for it) but sorry, no more toys. Suffice it to say, he will use 100% of his pay to simply exist. You, on the other hand, based on your boast of being in the top tax bracket, make at least $400,000 a year. If we add back in any tax write-offs you might have been taking for your business that you can no longer take, it’s probably more like $500,000. At 15% taxation that leaves you with a paltry $425,000! With that you’ll be doing a lot more than simply existing, Mr. Big Shot! But, by golly, you earned it and, hey, it’s fairer. That’s probably a large percentage tax cut for you in the tens of thousands of dollars. But, for your employee, it’s a huge increase of 1,350 times as much as he was paying before (mathematically assuming he paid $1 before). Brad, we “liberals” wish that you would go back to the conservatives you claim to have abandoned ten years ago, because people with your ideas just make us look bad. You can’t just say you came over, when you bring your bigoted and snobby attitudes and ideas with you. Oh, and maybe in the future, leave the published commentaries to actual thinking people like Mr. McWorther. Larry Bennington, Eden short on virtues, shifted an incredibly small 0.05 cent of tax burden off of the middle class taxpayers onto the top taxpayers. But note that the food sales tax reductions along with other small tokens were also part of the Huntsman tax-reform package. Combined, these changes helped very little in leveling the playing field. While the Utah legislature is reforming taxes around the margin, basically it’s all “window dressing.” But there are real consequences to this window dressing—one that the now absent Jon Huntsman Jr. won’t personally witness as he now jets off to China— and that is the collapse of our publicly subsidized higher education system and our K-12 school system that is losing $200 million/yr, or about $350/student/ yr because of his tax cut legacy. In conclusion, as tax revenues continue to drop nation-wide due to a huge housing and credit bubble, it is paramount that new sources of taxation be generated or else the U.S. dollar will devalue due to enormous deficits. But whether you’re a Keynesian thinker or not, the bottom line is, the tax system should be fairer here in Utah. That will only be achieved if citizens and schools understand that a flatter, “fairer” tax system here in Utah will result with when we return to a “graduated” income tax code where the top 1% of Utah taxpayers pays about 8 cents on the dollar in income tax. This is what I have been working on for our society. For more information, please visit <www. utahtax.org> Matthew D. Frandsen, Huntsville BATTALION Many Mighty Miracles On March 29 of this year, 2009, our sixteen-year-old son Addison became seriously ill and was having a hard time breathing. He was rushed to the emergency room and then sent to Primary Children’s Hospital. This began a thirtytwo day stay that has changed our lives. After about four hours in the emergency room, Addison was taken up to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). He was sedated and put Addison Brown on a ventilator and the search began as to what was causing the major lung infection that Addison was experiencing. After two days, the cause of his infection was determined. He had methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is one of the worst staph infections you can get especially—in your lungs. Addison also had Influenza B and Group A strep in his lungs. The medical staff at Primary’s told us he was the sickest patient in ICU. We were very worried and concerned about whether or not Addison would survive this ordeal. We prayed and fasted and asked our Heavenly Father to spare his life. Many wonderful family members and friends also joined us in praying for Addison. People in Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, California, Utah, Germany, Spain, and in Mexico also joined in our daily prayers. SuZan, my wife, started a blog to keep people updated daily on his condition. On the second Tuesday that he was in PICU, the doctor told me that they needed to take Addison down to the first floor to do a CAT scan to see what was really going on with his lungs. It would be very risky to do this because his vitals were unstable and he was hooked to a ventilator and many other machines and monitors. I went to the chapel on the third … A MUSICAL PAGEANT WHERE HISTORY, FAITH & ROMANCE COME TO LIFE … th th June 26 & 27 Entertainment begins at 7:30 p.m. Huntsville Outdoor Theatre (will move indoors for inclement weather) MIRACLES cont. on page 10 Free Admission June is Rebalance your Body Month at Zenergy Receive $10 off a Therapeutic or Structural Bodywork Session Call 801-644-8731 to schedule your appointment (mention this ad to receive the discount) www.zenergywellness.com 4794 E. 2600 N., Suite B, Eden (Upstairs in the Peterson Builders building) www.battalionmusical.blogspot.com |
