Say 'no' to tax reform for the wealthy

Everyone loves to pay less in taxes. But why do we pay any taxes?
The short of it: taxes pay for the goods and services for the benefit of the American people – building/maintaining roads, support police and fire departments, research and development like the Internet and space exploration, education, and more. Without federal taxes, we would have no federal government. Some say that would be great, but think about what this would mean – firstly there would be no military or national security.
Right now, our new president is proposing tax reform. But tax reform is changing the way we collect and manage taxes and it is a revenue-neutral tax change. But the new one-page bullet list presented the week of April 28, 2017 was only a tax wish list. This proposes several things:

• Changes seven tax brackets to three. That certainly simplifies things, but the lowest bracket stays constant at 10 percent so the least able in our society will not get any tax relief. But the wealthiest save a lot in taxes because someone making $250,000 pays the same percent as someone who makes millions.
  
• Eliminates the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which only benefits the wealthy. Do you use this?
  
• Eliminates the death tax, which only benefits those having over $5.5 million in assets (i.e.: the very wealthy). Is this you?
  
• Protects home ownership and charitable gift tax deductions. This only benefits those who own homes (which in turn helps those selling real estate – guess who!) and give to charity.
  

Eliminating state taxes from federal filing will increase the tax burden for all of us.
These proposals are meant to help the wealthiest among us, under the term of “Trickle Down Economics.” That is, save the wealthy and business owners money and those savings will trickle down to the rest of society. However, this has been tried for years, especially during George W. Bush’s administration, and significantly contributed to the economic downturn in 2008.
Is this what we really need in Pike Country? Will these changes help you? I think not! Let your representatives in the House and the Senate know how you feel about working for the American People, not the wealthy. Call Tom Marino (202-225-3732), Robert Casey (202-224-6324) and Patrick Toomey (202-224-4254) and tell them to vote NO for tax reform for the wealthy.
Karen Cohen
Milford