Letter: Trim taxes, and government, too

Thursday, March 15, 2001 | 10:01 a.m.

Opponents of President Bush's plan to cut taxes insist the move will benefit only the rich and the middle classes. Arguing that the poor should gain from any reductions, tax cut opponents conveniently ignore that the rich, and especially middle-class Americans, are the taxpayers, not the poor. For the poor to benefit from "government" largesse, they would have to receive some form of handout, such as the oft-touted, but abhorrent guaranteed income as an alternative to "paying" taxes. Liberals who claim to speak for the poor operate on the flawed premise that the government has a right to everyone's wealth and, therefore, should be the decision-maker about how it is put to use. In their view, the government has assumed the role of master rather than servant.

If the Constitution of this nation were fully enforced, the federal government would be 20 percent its size and 20 percent its cost. There would be no huge federal expenditures for education, energy, welfare, medicine, foreign aid and a host of other unconstitutional programs. And debating about federal taxes wouldn't take place because so many levies, especially including the hated income tax, would have been abolished. The proper way to achieve lower taxes is through cuts in government programs. All Americans will benefit.

KENNETH HOVEY