Tax fairness
Conservative columnist John Hood recently shared some credible "data to chew on": that the least-affluent households pay only about 16 percent of their total income in federal, state and local taxes, while the tax bites steady grow until the most affluent households have to pay 31 percent ("How high is high enough?" Nov. 6). Hood offered these data to support his complaint that "the tax burden on wealthiest Americans is already about twice as high in proportional terms as the tax burden on the poorest Americans."
Perhaps it would be helpful to chew on some additional data, starting with the answers to these two queries: First, what is the average after-tax income in dollars for each of the five American economic income quintiles? Then, after each taxpayer has made some voluntary charitable donations, how much average income in dollars is left for spending on that taxpayer's private needs and wants? Qualitatively, what does this additional data suggest about economic fairness? Politically, should we even care about such a thing?
There are lots of generous rich folks around here whose philanthropy helps make Winston-Salem a wonderful place to live. But is it unfair to raise tax rates on these fortunate households by a few percentage points? For Hood to have aborted his inquiry as to what really constitutes tax fairness serves only to hoodwink Journal readers, not enlighten us.
Until we can digest more data than what Hood appears willing to provide, I shall refrain from weeping for the wealthy.
WILLIAM B. GIBSON
Winston-Salem
At the end
When I was a child my parents taught me to kneel at the bedside at the end of the day and pray for all the things which had happened to my family and me that day. I was not taught to pray when I awoke.
The controversy over sectarian prayer is that the courts have decided that opening the council meeting with a prayer referencing a named deity is unconstitutional.
Simply hold the prayer session at the end of the meeting, praying, as I did when I was a child, that the council has done a good job and not made erroneous decisions. Then anyone who does not wish to hear the prayer or the reference to a particular deity or deities, and a multiplicity could be named or referred to, could leave the meeting at the conclusion, and those who wish to pray could do so. The timing of the prayer should have no bearing on the meeting, provided that the prayers are completed. Everyone should be satisfied, including the courts and the ACLU.
Just moving the prayer session to the end would prevent the city having to spend my tax dollars on what I consider to be a frivolous waste.
MERV WOODWARD
Winston-Salem
Next plan?
I was a member of the citizen's steering committee that developed the Village of Clemmons 2030 Comprehensive Plan. This plan, built with significant citizen input, articulates a long-term vision for the village and defines specific actions for realizing that vision over the next 25 years. It seeks to manage Clemmons' inevitable growth while recapturing a "village" quality of life that was lost over the past three decades.
It does so by lowering congestion, connecting communities and providing the types of amenities that appeal to current citizens as well as to the type of people moving to our area as we transition to a knowledge-based economy.
The plan allows Clemmons to remain competitive with other progressive small towns in the area so that our homes appreciate in value, we attract the right kinds of businesses and we are able to maintain a viable tax base for funding of essential services.
The Nov. 8 election worries me because it seems to reflect deep opposition to something with no accompanying positive vision for the future. How do the "Real Friends of Clemmons" plan to fix Lewisville-Clemmons Road? How will they build greenways, parks and bike trails? How will they maintain our village quality of life while our population continues to grow? How will they pay for all this with a tax rate that's significantly below those of other small towns? What is their plan for the future? I look forward to hearing answers to those questions soon.
SCOTT RHODES
Clemmons
Twisted
What a twisted world we live in. Say you are the grand poobah almighty football coach. If you did not immediately report the sex crimes against a little boy by a subordinate at Penn State, you are fired. Your name gets dragged through the mud, and eventually you end up in criminal and civil court. Which is exactly what you deserve.
But if you are the pope, you move priests around like chess pawns and get your parishioners to blindly tithe to pay lawyers and settlements. Then when you die you get nominated for sainthood. And the abuse continues under a new pope.
When Penn State fans pay to attend future athletic events, they will be as close to Catholicism as is humanly possible. They will be paying for the school's sins and transgressions. Their alma mater should be renamed Notre Penn.
HARRY R. COOKE
Winston-Salem
Conservative columnist John Hood recently shared some credible "data to chew on": that the least-affluent households pay only about 16 percent of their total income in federal, state and local taxes, while the tax bites steady grow until the most affluent households have to pay 31 percent ("How high is high enough?" Nov. 6). Hood offered these data to support his complaint that "the tax burden on wealthiest Americans is already about twice as high in proportional terms as the tax burden on the poorest Americans."
Perhaps it would be helpful to chew on some additional data, starting with the answers to these two queries: First, what is the average after-tax income in dollars for each of the five American economic income quintiles? Then, after each taxpayer has made some voluntary charitable donations, how much average income in dollars is left for spending on that taxpayer's private needs and wants? Qualitatively, what does this additional data suggest about economic fairness? Politically, should we even care about such a thing?
There are lots of generous rich folks around here whose philanthropy helps make Winston-Salem a wonderful place to live. But is it unfair to raise tax rates on these fortunate households by a few percentage points? For Hood to have aborted his inquiry as to what really constitutes tax fairness serves only to hoodwink Journal readers, not enlighten us.
Until we can digest more data than what Hood appears willing to provide, I shall refrain from weeping for the wealthy.
WILLIAM B. GIBSON
Winston-Salem
At the end
When I was a child my parents taught me to kneel at the bedside at the end of the day and pray for all the things which had happened to my family and me that day. I was not taught to pray when I awoke.
The controversy over sectarian prayer is that the courts have decided that opening the council meeting with a prayer referencing a named deity is unconstitutional.
Simply hold the prayer session at the end of the meeting, praying, as I did when I was a child, that the council has done a good job and not made erroneous decisions. Then anyone who does not wish to hear the prayer or the reference to a particular deity or deities, and a multiplicity could be named or referred to, could leave the meeting at the conclusion, and those who wish to pray could do so. The timing of the prayer should have no bearing on the meeting, provided that the prayers are completed. Everyone should be satisfied, including the courts and the ACLU.
Just moving the prayer session to the end would prevent the city having to spend my tax dollars on what I consider to be a frivolous waste.
MERV WOODWARD
Winston-Salem
Next plan?
I was a member of the citizen's steering committee that developed the Village of Clemmons 2030 Comprehensive Plan. This plan, built with significant citizen input, articulates a long-term vision for the village and defines specific actions for realizing that vision over the next 25 years. It seeks to manage Clemmons' inevitable growth while recapturing a "village" quality of life that was lost over the past three decades.
It does so by lowering congestion, connecting communities and providing the types of amenities that appeal to current citizens as well as to the type of people moving to our area as we transition to a knowledge-based economy.
The plan allows Clemmons to remain competitive with other progressive small towns in the area so that our homes appreciate in value, we attract the right kinds of businesses and we are able to maintain a viable tax base for funding of essential services.
The Nov. 8 election worries me because it seems to reflect deep opposition to something with no accompanying positive vision for the future. How do the "Real Friends of Clemmons" plan to fix Lewisville-Clemmons Road? How will they build greenways, parks and bike trails? How will they maintain our village quality of life while our population continues to grow? How will they pay for all this with a tax rate that's significantly below those of other small towns? What is their plan for the future? I look forward to hearing answers to those questions soon.
SCOTT RHODES
Clemmons
Twisted
What a twisted world we live in. Say you are the grand poobah almighty football coach. If you did not immediately report the sex crimes against a little boy by a subordinate at Penn State, you are fired. Your name gets dragged through the mud, and eventually you end up in criminal and civil court. Which is exactly what you deserve.
But if you are the pope, you move priests around like chess pawns and get your parishioners to blindly tithe to pay lawyers and settlements. Then when you die you get nominated for sainthood. And the abuse continues under a new pope.
When Penn State fans pay to attend future athletic events, they will be as close to Catholicism as is humanly possible. They will be paying for the school's sins and transgressions. Their alma mater should be renamed Notre Penn.
HARRY R. COOKE
Winston-Salem
Tax Fairness. No such thing.
ReplyDeleteAt the end. I mentioned about 3 weeks ago that maybe a prayer should be offered at the end of these meetings to protect most of us from what these meetings have wrought. Naturally this Lte writer makes a good point.
ReplyDeleteNext plan. Clemmons must be a jumping little burg. It used to be a tiny little community until everybody got there.
ReplyDeleteTwisted. I fear there is much more to come in this ugly statutory rape case. Maybe this coach's activity carried outside the college? It is clever to side by side with the Catholics here as I doubt this has been going on at PSU from day one, but this kind of conduct nearly doomed the Priesthood from its beginning centuries ago.
ReplyDeleteTruly, WW, I hope victims everywhere will start speaking up. I was the victim of a predator when I was in High School. Not a coach or teacher, but the director of a Washington Workshop type summer camp for students in DC.
ReplyDeleteBob...I'm sorry to hear. An abuser can be a part of any field and any walk of life. More victims do need to speak up, though it is hard, for the sake of all others.
ReplyDelete@WW's 1110hrs: No one here has mentioned the accusations at Syracuse, I think it is. Anyway, there is some encouragement that more men are speaking up on this type of crime against children of the male gender. Just as with domestic violence against males.
ReplyDeleteSyracuse and The Citadel.
ReplyDeleteLaSambra....you are right about Syracuse. Maybe the story is too new or is eclipsed by PSU. Something to guard against though... accusations made by a vengeful person(s) against an innocent person. It happens so care must be given. There have been many people accused of things falsely only to be proven innocent later. But their reputations are trashed for good. Time will tell.
ReplyDelete