My Views on Taxes and the Economy

I just spent some time formulating a letter to my representative, Martha Roby... I didn't want my time to be a complete waste, so I figured I'd post a copy here in the hopes that someone will find it online one day and it will change at least one person's view on the issues I wrote about. Here goes:

Dear Representative Roby,

Please read my entire letter and respond only if you agree with me the least little bit. I don't want a form letter from a staffer that is a waste of paper, the resources of the USPS, and your staffer's time that will just tell me how wrong I am and will end up being thrown in the recycling bin. I'd rather not hear back from you at all if that's the response I'm going to get. This letter is a little long, but I still encourage you to read the entire message because I believe it contains factual information that I've tried my best to cite. Please also realize that my message may sound extreme at times, but I'm just trying to be emphatic in order to get my point across. I hope my efforts will get you to at least consider following through on your duty to advocate for the best interests of the majority of your constituents, not the "big-money" players who are able to throw cash around to influence your opinions.

I know your point of view is that the "T-word" (taxes) are bad, evil, wrong, etc, but I just don't get it. People's effective tax rates are lower now than ever: (http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/make-money/your-federal-income-taxes-are-lower-than-you-think/109/) If you think taxes are high now, what do you think about the time in history when the rich were taxed at 70 or even 90 percent? That was a time in our country's history when there really was such a thing as "shared sacrifice" and people actually paid for the wars that we were engaged in. If I were making mega-bucks, I would consider it an honor to be able to afford to pay a higher tax rate in order to give back to the Country that has fostered the environment that has allowed me to be so prosperous.

I actually agree with the "talking point" that it will hurt the economy to raise taxes... However, with one caveat - I only think that taxes should be the same or lower for middle-class or poor people. The millionaires and billionaires who have way more than they need can stand to pay a little more to help out the USA when we need it most. The esteemed businessman and billionaire investor Warren Buffet agrees: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/warren-buffett-read-lips-raise-taxes/story?id=12199889 In addition, the CBO has stated that tax cuts are tied for the absolute least effective way to stimulate the economy: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2010/11/cbo-tax-cuts-were-least-effective-stimulus-in-recovery-act.html

I also don't understand where you're coming from when it's said that tax cuts for the so-called "job creators" create jobs. If I were a business owner, I know I wouldn't hire someone to sit around and be a knot on a log just because I had a pile of cash laying around that came my way because of a tax cut. If that were the case there should be low unemployment right now because I hear that the corporations are sitting on $2 trillion that they don't know what to do with. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704312104575298652567988246.html I would only hire someone if I need them to handle some additional workload that was due to increased demand. That's something people should have learned if they had a pulse and didn't sleep through their high school economics class. There's no such thing as supply-side economics. It's a myth perpetuated to justify ripping off the middle class and working poor who scrape by to make ends meet while the fat cats sit back and smoke cigars on their private jets and get a tax deduction for their yacht that they are able to claim as a second home.

GDP is calculated as: private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product) I don't see tax cuts for the rich anywhere in that formula. Any logical, intelligent, and rational person can read an economics book or talk to any high school economics teacher to learn what needs to be done to get the economy moving again... It's what FDR did to save us from the Great Depression when the "New Deal" was enacted. If it worked back then why can't we do the same thing now? Let's improve society, the Country's infrastructure, and at the same time ensure a bright future for the USA by putting people back to work even if the jobs are created by the government and they are only temporary. If we do that, it's a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved. However, it can only be accomplished if you're willing, able, and have the courage it takes to see through the rhetoric that has been repeated so many times that some people actually believe it's true.

As a resident of the great state of AL, you should know as well as any of us that the poor and middle class living in this state are having a hard time. So, if we can pay our taxes, why can't America's richest CEOs pay theirs? Please don't turn your back on all of those working class people out there who voted for you thinking that you would represent them to the best of your ability.

I keep hearing we that we have a deficit problem because we spend too much money on education, jobs and the poor. I actually got this line from one of your staffers the other day when I called to express my opinion that the debt ceiling needed to be raised because not allowing it to be increased would result in an economic catastrophe that would far outweigh any of the consequences of doing so. The truth is that we have a revenue problem -- one that we can fix by making billionaires and corporate CEOs pay their fair share.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky has introduced a powerful bill -- The Fairness in Taxation Act, H.R.1124 -- to reset the American tax code back to a standard of fairness. Please sign on to this bill and help us fix our revenue problem. The money raised can then be used to put Americans to work in any number of ways which is the key to letting us BUILD our way out of this economic downturn. (Government Spending is a key component of the GDP formula cited above). That will lead to higher employment and thus higher Private Consumption... which, you guessed it, is another key component of the GDP formula cited above. The alternative that your party proposes will end up causing us to dig our hole even deeper. Which is bad for everyone - even the rich - because it will cause their investments to go down.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

Brandon Richards