I heard someone ask the other ” What was fair?”. They were referring to the ‘tax cuts’ and the idea of letting the high income folks move back to the pre-Bush rates while the lower income folks stayed at the Bush rates. Was this ‘Fair’?
In my view, letting higher income earners pay taxes at a higher rate commensurate with the higher income is more than fair. One of the primary reasons these people have such a high income is because the government has built an infrastructure that provides for them. We have regulatory agencies that provide a a safe and stable commercial environment. We have troops stationed around the world, fighting in foreign countries, trying to maintain a safe and stable political environment. Our government manages to maintain a safe and stable personal environment for most of its citizens, allowing them to direct their energies to personal growth and achievement rather than to day-to-day survival (I said most.) This all requires an infrastructure paid for by our taxes.
Over the past few years, the national infrastructure has become suspect. Debts and deficits have risen because no one seems to think they should pay for all this infrastructure, and so, the infrastructure is weakening.
What is fair is that the folks whom benefit the most from this infrastructure pay the most for it. And it isn’t like anyone who makes more than another should take home less than someone who makes less. Additional taxes are applied to the the monies earned over and above the threshold level. Someone making $1,000,001 pretax is still taking home more after tax than someone making $1,000,000 pretax. Until the infrastructure is repaired, those that have reaped the benefits of the past should continue to make it right for the future.
The ones trampled by the infrastructure shouldn’t be expected to pay for it. Effectively, they can’t pay for it. The infrastructure should provide the all of society the opportunity to grow and prosper and it doesn’t always catch everyone equally. I am sure that most people would rather make $1,000,000 a year and pay some taxes than make $10,000 a year and not have to pay taxes.
So let the ones who profit from our society pay for it. Not only is this fair; it is equitable.