Readers React: When the wealthy prosper, we all win

To the editor: I’m not particularly rich — I have to grub for as much money as I can eke out, like most people. But I have no problem seeing billionaires get tax breaks. Why is that? (“How the Republicans are trying to make the rich even richer,” op-ed, April 14)

It’s because I’m familiar with writers like John Tamny, who in his recent book “Popular Economics” points out that the best way to “spread the wealth around” is to “leave it in the hands of the wealthy.” That incredibly rich 1% produces more wealth for the rest of us than all the left’s well-meaning bureaucrats and confiscatory governments can ever hope to achieve.

In short, government is the problem and the market — mainly capital investment — is the answer when it comes to best helping the poor and the middle class. The Republicans realize this and the Democrats don’t.

That’s why I keep voting Republican.

Patrick M. Dempsey, Granada Hills

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To the editor: I never cease to be amazed at the brazenness of the Republican Party and its pandering to the eternally put-upon super-rich.

While they receive tax break after tax break, my husband and I, on our basically fixed income, must pay our income tax in installments. And as the elite among us receive a $270-billion estate tax break, we are struggling to figure out how we will be able to refinance our house at a better rate, how we will pay for installation of solar panels on our roof and an expensive new energy-saving refrigerator in an effort to save on our energy bills, and from the whence the money will come to rip out our small lawn and re-landscape in order to save water during this dreadful drought.

They claim they worry about the middle class and “income inequality.” And they are asking for our vote? Please.

Rebecca Hertsgaard, Palm Desert

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To the editor: Instead of debating all the intricacies of the current income tax system, let’s solve that problem simply by doing away with it. Why is it presumed that we must have income taxes?

We can design a sales tax system that generates all the funds needed to operate our government. It does not have to be regressive. Simply have a graduated system with no sales tax on essentials and an increasing tax as prices of the items go up.

Wealthy people buying luxury cars, for example, would pay a higher-percentage sales tax than lower-income families buying lower-priced or used cars.

Think of all the benefits: Get rid of the adversarial IRS; save lots of hassle; and people get fewer headaches. It makes life much more pleasant.

George Epstein, Los Angeles

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