Of course, Mr. Ignatius is, like most liberals today, more concerned with appearing to help the poor than actually helping them. Not once does he mention reducing government spending so that we can cut taxes for the poor. Instead, it's raise taxes higher and higher. This might make sense if all our tax dollars were going to building roads and hospitals, but as we all know, far too much government spending is on huge defense contracts, outlandish farm subsidies, and completely nonsensical oil handouts at a time when oil companies are making record profits.
It's that sentiment a try to express in my letter, mailed to the Post earlier today:
I would like to thank David Ignatius for calling attention to our dysfunctional tax system that all too often leaves the lower and middle classes shouldering a disproportionate amount of the tax burden while corporate executives and Wall Street financiers fly under the radar (“A Backlash Against Billionaires,” July 19). What is disconcerting about his argument, however, is that he would choose to raise taxes for the rich rather than lower them for the rest of us.
While it sure would feel nice to slap the wealthy with some hefty new taxes, it’s neither necessary to shift the tax burden nor beneficial to the poor. With billions of dollars a year going to unnecessary farm subsidies, oil subsidies, pork barrel spending, and the like, only a fraction of the increased tax revenue would help those in need. And although a few percent of a few hundred million dollars isn’t going to save Social Security, a few hundred dollars can be the difference between a family just scraping by and having enough to start a college fund.
What we really must do is reduce wasteful government spending so that everyone can keep more of their money. Mr. Ignatius has pointed out a significant problem in our tax system. In solving it, let us focus not on hurting the rich, but helping the poor.
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