Taxes: Rich or Poor?

President Obama is challenging America and the Republicans on taxes. Republicans have chanted the broken record of ‘lower taxes’ for decades. It has become their brand. Trouble is very few benefit from this ritual except the rich and the very rich.

Of course there are the ‘wannabes’ who think that if things are made easier to gain wealth, then they too might become rich one day. I doubt those chances are real. The probabilities are stacked high against such results.

Rather, the easiness of wealth access is really this reality: the rich get richer. That reality precludes the poor getting rich. It is a basic truth of math.

What is factual is this: the gap between rich and poor in America is huge and increasing very quickly. It is probable that most of the wealth in this nation will be controlled by 1% or fewer by 2040 if not before. Shocking? No, not really.

That is why the rest of us can claim naturally that the republican ideal is not realistic nor good for the public. Something much broader than that is required in a free society to maintain itself.

The poor must have access to the ‘keys of the kingdom.’ Education is one key. Fair pay for equal work is another key. Access to healthcare is yet another key. Freedom of movement, access to transportation, affordable housing, adequate food and dietary supports, as well as clothing and freedom to think, exercise beliefs and religions, the whole nine yards of life’s capabilities and capacities.

We may have been born with differing degrees of capacities, but we are all born free to live life and experience its richness. We have the responsibility to work hard, study hard, and follow our dreams with the knowledge that these efforts will pay off eventually. Perhaps not with unlimited wealth of money and physical assets, but at least with the inner satisfaction of having lived life well and in our own way!

Of all people, Mitt Romney might have discovered this truth. He is placing himself in the presidential race of 2016 as the champion of the poor. And fellow republicans are scratching their heads! As they should. Because they don’t get it.

The poor must have access to the tools that will support their transition to full citizenship able to support themselves and their families. They must have education support to gain the skill sets needed to earn a living. Their family members need this very same support.

If only successful at a low level, the poor family will be unable to pay rents that will pay reasonable return on investment to the owners of the housing units being rented. The poor will not be able to buy the cars, furniture, clothing and food that they fully need and would provide more return on investment for the owners of wealth.

It is in the best interests of the wealthy, the society, and the poor that access to potential in their lives be provided.

It is why taxes need to be raised on those who have the means to pay them. The poor do not. The Middle Class is disappearing into the dust and most of the poor. Who then is available to pay the bill for repairing a broken society?  Well the very people who have complained the most about protecting what is theirs! Imagine that.

Free education to the highest levels of a person’s ability ought to be a right of passage and a rite of passage for all Americans. Government is the only vehicle that can provide this massive effort. I think it is about time we face this fact as a nation and make it happen.

Ignoring this need will continue to produce a nation ill-equipped to compete on the world stage of competition. Intellect needs sustenance. So does wealth. So does capacity. So does an economic system, and a cultural one. Who is learning today in the world? Asia far outstrips America’s output of educated and inventive peoples. Why is that?  Have we become so lazy, so inwardly focused that we are losing our very birthright?

Serious things to ponder I think. Many of us have already sacrificed much so that a few may prosper. It is time to redress these inequities.

If we truly lowered all taxes to zero, who would teach in the schools? Indeed what schools? Who would build the roads? Indeed what roads. And where would they be built? To the homes and business doors of the rich?

The last time I checked, America is not the land Of the Rich, By the Rich and For the Rich. No, it is and always will be Of, By and For the People. That is all of us. Not just the few.

Are we finally together on that point?

January 22, 2015