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So, How Much Is Your Fair Share?
by James Glaser December 12, 2011 
How much do you think you should pay in income tax? In the last couple of months President Obama has been going around the country saying that the rich should pay their fair share. Hey, I agree. So, let me ask — just what is their fair share? Actually, a better question is, how much do we need to come up with? What the heck is next year's budget? Are we going to cut some programs, start new ones, stop or continue our wars? How can anyone figure out the rich's fair share if we don't know what we are doing? First off, we should all know that the US Tax Code is over 73,000 pages long. So, no matter what the President comes up with, some tax lawyer is going to find a plethora of loop holes to cut down what his clients have to pay. I believe the Republicans have come up with a great question. They ask the President, just how much is the fair share he wants the rich to pay? Sure it sounds good that the rich should pay their fair share, but so far, President Obama and the Democrats have failed to put a number on that. It makes good copy to hammer the rich about their taxes, but I think the Republicans have called Obama's bluff, and he is going to have to come up with something. I think the reason Obama hasn't come up with a specific number is that he doesn't want to offend the people who financed his last campaign. Like it or not, Barack Obama got the vast majority of his campaign funds from the rich and corporations. Tut tut now. Don't start saying, "No way." You are probably thinking that if John McCain had won we would be saying the same about him. The rich and the corporation give the lion share of campaign funds to both political parties. Another reason Obama has no specific number, is because he has no idea what we will need. I have to agree with President Obama, the rich should pay their fair share, but then everyone else should, too. I don't care if you are at the bottom of the income ladder, I think you should have to pay something, and unlike Obama I am ready to put a number on that. I think every working American should have to put in a minimum of fifty bucks. Really now what is fifty bucks? It isn't even a ticket to a NFL football game. Fifty bucks buys your ticket to bitch about what is going on in Washington. "But what about the rich?" you ask? Well, I think I have that figured out too. First off, repeal about 73,000 pages of that income tax code. Have the rich pay whatever the tax code says they should pay now. I think that is 35%. Then add up all the money we take in, and that is what Washington has to spend. Not a penny more. If that isn't enough money, then either cut programs or raise the percent everybody has to pay. Really the rich people should be paying a their fair share, but I can understand how they feel when 47% of Americans pay nothing in income tax. Fair is fair only if it applies to everybody. You and I both know that President Obama has some sort of an idea of how much the rich will have to pay if he wants to run America his way. So, come on Mr. President, tell the rich what you think they should pay, and tell us how much you want to spend, and do this before the election so the rest of us know what and just who we are voting for. |
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