Citizens Don’t Want More Taxes

by Aon Hussain With the world watching, the Republican controlled House and the Democrat controlled Senate and President came to an agreement on the debt ceiling that simultaneously raised the debt ceiling and ensured more than two trillion dollars in spending cuts. While this showdown was combative, another duel between Democrats and Republicans looms in...

by Aon Hussain

With the world watching, the Republican controlled House and the Democrat controlled Senate and President came to an agreement on the debt ceiling that simultaneously raised the debt ceiling and ensured more than two trillion dollars in spending cuts.

While this showdown was combative, another duel between Democrats and Republicans looms in the horizon. The Bush Tax Cuts are on the verge of expiring in 2012. And as evidenced by the debt ceiling debate, many politicians are keen on unnecessarily raising income taxes. Should these tax cuts expire, income, death, and capital gains taxes will all increase leading to a decrease in economic stability.

Many politicians presented the argument that revenue needed to be raised; that the richest Americans needed to pay their “fair share” in taxes. But the entire premise of this argument has been debunked. Because of this, citizens across Illinois have expressed their dissatisfaction with the possibility of increased taxes through various letters to the editors.

Louis J. Berardi writes in the Chicago Sun-Times that raising taxes on the rich is unfair since they carry a heavier burden on their shoulders to support everybody else. This is because

There are 43 million Americans who pay no taxes. 

Clarke Wolfert takes this a step further by writing in the Peoria Journal Star and cites statistics about how much the rich actually pay.

If taxpayers were divided into five parts by income, the top two parts pay 99 percent of all income taxes, and the top 1 percent pay 40 percent. 

Richard Rogal builds on this reasoning in his letter in the State Journal-Register. He argues that the amount of money revenue generated from the top tax brackets has already tremendously increased. By increasing rates for anybody, these revenues would be negatively impacted.

In 1986, the top 5 percent of earners paid 43 percent of federal income taxes . . .In 2009, the top 5 percent of tax filers paid 59 percent of federal taxes. 

These letters all show that citizens are opposed to a raise in income taxes. This hits close to home considering the state of Illinois already raised income taxes on its residents by 66%, yet no positives effects have come into fruition.

While Americans had to sit through a tumultuous negotiation on the debt ceiling, through citizen engagement, like contacting legislators or writing letters to the editor, hopefully Americans won’t have to go through it again when major tax cuts are set to expire in 2012.