Tax Choices and American Values

* In your July 20 editorial you gave the poorest excuse yet for why married couples should pay more taxes than those who are not married: You are afraid that the couples are going to spend the money they would otherwise pay to the government! The inequity in the tax laws is not a matter of economics but a matter of justice. It is unjust to penalize couples for being married.

Given the fact that the majority of divorces are caused by financial problems, I think the $1,500 that a married couple would save on the average per year may help more than a few marriages. I do not need to go into what benefits this will have for our society in terms of health and welfare of our children. It suffices to say that to any fair person, the benefits of eliminating the marriage penalty far outweigh any real or imagined economic repercussions it may have.

SHERVIN SHAMBAYATI

Glendale

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The taproot of democracy is opposition to inherited wealth and power. It matters not that an ancestor was a senator, noble, CEO or shyster. We each have to make our way in this world. Elimination of the estate tax would lock in the current social order, perpetuate now-wealthy families and establish a permanent American aristocracy. The Marie Antoinettes who populate the U.S. Senate shock me with their disregard for the fundamental values of our revolution. Have they forgotten where we came from?

STEFEN MALONE

West Hollywood