Flat tax is unjust, benefits only the wealthy

I find it necessary to respond to the misleading article by Mr. Goldenson ("When it comes to taxes, flat is finest," Feb. 14). It grieves me to see a young man spewing the rhetoric of greedy men like Steve Forbes. Briefly, Mr. Goldenson's notion that a flat tax is a fair tax is not only ridiculous but repugnant. The idea that those who benefit the most from our society should have to return the least is hardly just. Besides this obvious moral oversight on his part, the article is filled with erroneous information.

Despite what Mr. Goldenson's conservative think tank says, the fact is that the flat tax will indeed raise taxes considerably on the vast majority of Americans. What Flat Taxers always fail to mention is that the 15 percent to 18 percent flat tax does not include the Medicare/Social Security tax, which, at the present rate, is another 7.65 percent. In addition, he overestimates the most likely per child deduction by at least a factor of three.

Mr. Goldenson should closely examine the specifics and consequences of the Kennedy and Reagan tax cuts. In 1981 Reagan cut taxes only on capital gains and the uppermost tax brackets. Revenues dropped, not increased by 25 percent, sending this country into a near depression and ballooning the national debt almost beyond repair. John Kennedy's tax proposals of 1962 targeted the middle class and when enacted in 1964 caused a significant boost in the economy.

When Clinton raised taxes in 1993 on only the wealthiest Americans, they claimed that the hike on them would ruin the economy. Based on the present trends on Wall Street the exact opposite appears to be true. You need only look to the thriving markets of every other Western democracy to realize that a progressive tax system has many benefits. Indeed, most countries without a progressive system are typified by a stagnant economy and a two-class society; a small few living in lavish wealth while the remainder suffer in abject poverty. I cite Mexico- which numbers fourth in the world for the most billionaires- and Haiti as examples.

This country's democracy is in jeopardy because of the large financial and thus political power concentrated in the hands of the few. A regressive tax system will only aggravate this problem. Flat taxes are an unfair and losing proposition for every American, rich and poor.

By Dr. F. B. Gallagher (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 24, 1997