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Show greatest of any nation in all time. It might not be so bad if the purchasing power of our dollar hadn't declined to a little more than 50 percent of its prewar value. Yes, what about those Americans, commissioners, the value of whose life-insurance policies, time deposits, E, F, and G savings bonds have been cut in half? It might not be so bad if the tax load could be evenly distributed dis-tributed but you know who pays and pays and pays. It's not the corporations. It's not the rich. The President in his budget for 1957 gives this breakdown, in billions: Individual meome taxes .... A $35.1 Corporation income taxes . . 20.3 Excise taxes 9.9 Other taxes 2.1 Miscellaneous receipts .... 2.8 Refund of receipts. . .minus 3.9 Fifty million Federal taxpayers, earning less than $5,000 yearly, pay 60 per cent of the total income. in-come. It's less than 2 million whose net incomes are over $5,000. And our income-tax rates run from 22 percent in the lowest bracket to 92 percent in the highest. And since July 1, 1940 we have given away to foreign countries, some of them our bitter enemies, Editorial . . . BULLIONS AND PEANUTS AND PEANUT SHELLS Dig down, brother. This time it's the Salt Lake City commissioners commis-sioners who are going to add to x the tax burden. Funny, isn't it, how the guardians of the public funds can always spend themselves them-selves into an agreement on raising rais-ing taxes. It might not be so bad if the Federal government hadn't drained us dry as it staggers under a 275 billion dollar debt load the 108 billion, 847 million, 779 thousand thous-and dollars. Our foreign aid program pro-gram even now embraces most of the world, almost 100 nations, notwithstanding not-withstanding that some of them have now balanced their budgets and are reducing the taxes for for their people. In the light of all these billions, commissioners, what you're going to add may be only peanuts but honestly, don't you think 22 percent per-cent to 92 percent Federal plus state taxes, our present city and school taxes, charity drives, etc., is enough to be taxed? And besides, the peanut shells we'll have left are neither tasty nor nourishing. |