Chris Collins wrote against a 4-percent additional tax on incomes over $1,000,000 by saying those in favor of it think “wealth is something to be redistributed to those who did nothing to earn it.” The proposed tax is for infrastructure and education. Chris’ claim of income redistribution is false. Those making over $1,000,000 use more of the state’s infrastructure than poor people without cars or houses. We drive and fly, a few of us in private planes.
These activities cost the state billions. Why shouldn’t those who use the infrastructure MUCH more pay a much higher part of the cost? Even if we send our kids to private school, our consumption is much higher than that of the poor family; our kids are transported to their schools on roads or in government-safeguarded skies, while we live in houses supported in myriad ways by state and federal governments. Chris might look up the sites detailing these services and tax breaks to see if that extra 4-percent of income isn’t perhaps a bit low.
Chris overgeneralizes: “having had more success than their neighbors” doesn’t mean one has “worked hard” to enjoy the “fruits of that labor.” I know lots of well-off folk who never worked at all. Others worked, but not harder than the poor. I am in this group. I had the benefits of educated parents, a liberal-minded caring community, government-supported education, great connections, and union membership. But did I work harder than the poor? Not the poor I worked with — they were killing themselves. I’m happy to pay my part — OK, and a bit more too – to improve infrastructure AND social services so others get the kinds of breaks I got. Hope you are too.
JAMES LAUGHNER
South Deerfield