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Concerned about Bush tax plan

To the editor:
Did anyone read about the Bush Administrationís new tax plan? According to an article published in the Washington Post on Monday, the Administration wants to increase taxes on lower and middle-income workers.
The Bush Administration and conservative allies are stating that the wealthy pay a disproportionate amount of the burden of taxation. When payroll taxes are removed, or when taxes are expressed as a ratio of population to taxation instead of income to taxation, wealthy Americans do appear to be carrying a disproportionate amount of the nationís tax burden. However, when payroll taxes are included in the total tax burden ñ as they should be and have been in the past, since they are a tax - the top 5 percent of wage earners earn approximately 14 percent of the wealth and pay approximately 16 percent of the taxes ñ hardly a disproportionate ratio of taxation to income! I am bothered by the Administrationís willingness to ìcook the booksî in order to sell its tax policy, especially since rotten data seldom results in sound policy.
The Bush tax plan has evolved remarkable since 2001, when the Bush Administrationís 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut was touted as a tool to take down the tollgate on the road to the middle class, emphasizing its beneficial impact on workers ìon the outskirts of poverty.î Now weíre being told that people who earn between $50,0000 and $75,000 a year should be paying a third more taxes. Huh? Whatever happened to compassionate conservatism?
The Republican Party appealed to the public in the role of Robin Hood, rescuing Middle America from over-burdensome government taxation. What a surprise to find out that their newest tax plan has a lot more in common with the Sheriff of Nottingham, who took from the poor to give to himself.
Amy Ries
North Branch

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