Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Putting to rest a false premise about taxes

In response to Warren Buffett’s New York Times op-ed piece, Mitt Romney said “high taxes on entrepreneurs and investors dissuade them from putting Americans to work.” This is utterly false. As Buffett wrote, “I have yet to see anyone ... shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain.”

Although it’s false, generally lazy and uninformed voters believe Romney’s premise is true. So for a moment, I’ll pretend it’s true.

The question is, does this premise matter? It does, but only if the opposite premise is also true — that is, a low tax rate (or lowering tax rates) on the rich encourages them to put Americans to work.

Time and time again, this has been proven false. Most recently it was the case with the George W. Bush tax cuts from 2002 and 2004, which were extended last year.

The wealthy got lower taxes and hired who? A maid for their second mansion? A driver for their limo? A pilot for their personal jet? Maybe, but the unemployment rate skyrocketed starting around the time the wealthy got lower taxes.

Since high tax rates on the wealthy have no effect on whether they hire people, and low tax rates on the wealthy have no effect on whether they hire people, why do voters buy this load of bull?

I’m all for different people having different opinions. But, please, do your homework and form your own opinions. Then, maybe, we can get back to the one and only true desire of the Founding Fathers — to form a more perfect union.

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