An Unfair Tax System is Unfair—However the Money is Made

Play ball.  Play fair.  Keep the money game honest and fair.  It seems that our tax system is not.

If a multimillionaire pays a less tax-rate than the average middleclass American, no matter how the money was made (assuming legality), it’s unfair and unjust, period!

Yes, taxes are necessary.  No great nation can exist without taxing its people.  But a really great nation will tax its people equitably.  The very rich and powerful will get no special breaks.  In a truly great nation, the middleclass is not overloaded with an unfair share of the tax burden.  Yet that is exactly what is happening here in America.  This must change.

Mitt Romney was proud to say that he paid a lot of tax dollars.  Good for him.  But he made millions!  Yet, he paid a tax-rate of only 15%.  How many middleclass Americans can say the same?  The typical American will never make the millions Romney has made yet regularly and consistently pay out at a much higher tax-rate than Romney.  This is not right and it is not just.

Let’s be consistent.  Perhaps we should have the state charge the multimillionaire only 3% sales tax while the rest of us pay 6%?  Maybe we should also make a new law that says multimillionaires are to pay reduced rates at theaters and restaurants; the law could guarantee that multimillionaires are to get a 15-20% break on these items while the middleclass must pay full-fare.  Come now, let’s be consistent about this.

No?  Then the tax system needs adjusting.  It shouldn’t matter exactly how the money was made.  A millionaire who makes multimillion dollars per year should be paying a tax-rate at least equal to (if not more-than but certainly not less-than) that of the average middleclass American who makes only a few tens of thousands per year.

We’re talking about economic justice.  We’re talking about everyone carrying a just and fair share of the tax burden.  Millionaires receive the same benefit from our public streets, lighting, and services as the average American does.  Millionaires receive the same benefit from our police and military protection as the average American does (or perhaps more so).  Millionaires should therefore be paying-in to the public-pot at the same rate (if not a higher rate) as most Americans do, certainly not less!

I understand that Mitt Romney paid what the present tax-law required of him.  He paid no more and no less.  There was no tax-fraud.  No lying and cheating on his income-tax returns.  And he’s proud of it.  Fine, but is he also proud of the tax-system that allowed him to pay down at a lower tax rate, despite his millions?  Is he also proud of the fact that most Americans who are scraping-by day-by-day, week-by-week, are paying taxes at a much higher tax-rate than he does?  Is he willing to change the tax-system to make it more equitable to the average American?

Millionaires, give us a break!  Millionaires certainly do not need more perks and tax breaks than the average middleclass American is able to get.  Play fair!  Be just!  Do what’s right.