Rick Hauser has discovered the amazing fact that the rich pay more taxes than the workers (middle class) in total (“Wealthy pay their fair share,” Our Readers’ Views, June 25). Why is that, Rick? Perhaps because they have more money!
Rick has missed the ProPublica articles. ProPublica has obtained the tax records of thousands of wealthy, and some of the wealthiest have paid no taxes (or virtually no taxes) at all. Jeff Bezos, Carl Icahn, George Soros, etc. — wealthiest people in America paid nothing.
Hauser cites a lot of statistics, mostly dubious, out of context. Here’s an interesting statistic: based on rise in wealth against taxes paid, the rich paid an average of 3.4 percent in taxes. The working class had basically no rise in wealth and paid on average 14 percent in taxes. This is because workers are paid salaries as income and the rich’s income does not come totally or mostly or at all from salaries. The top 1 percent’s increase in total taxes since 2001 from 33.2 percent to 40.1 percent, which Hauser cites, merely shows the wealthy increased their incomes and workers didn’t.
Hauser, expecting the richest people in America to pay taxes is not envy. Same goes for the 60 profitable Fortune 500 corporations who paid nothing also.
