Blogging Scholarship
Question:
- “As the nation approaches its 57th Presidential Election, we’re asking the future leaders of this country, students, to define the single most important political issue in this election. Tell us not only what that issue is, but also tell us why and how you propose we come to a solution that benefits the majority?”
My Answer:
In this 57th presidential election, the single most important issue is, undoubtedly, taxes. Collecting taxes is the main way in which the government raises revenue. As of now, there is one major problem with this nation’s tax system. It is unfair.
In one of his segments, comedian Louis C.K. explains a situation in which his bank had charged him for not having enough money in his bank account. Whether real or fictional, this story eventually explains what is wrong with the tax code. Later in his segment, C.K. describes how banks treat wealthy people, according to him. He says, “That’s how different it is to be rich than it is to be poor because when you’re rich the bank pays you for being rich. If you have a lot of money they give you money, because you have a lot of money! They say [to the rich], ‘You have so much money that we should give you some! Because you have a lot! You should have more! Here! Take more money!’” While obviously a generalization and exaggeration, our tax system and the economic policy behind it can be reflected in this joke. Truth be told, the fact that this idea is a problem for and being conveyed by a comedian shows how real and universally present it is. Now, you might be asking yourself, “What is ‘this idea’ that he’s referring to?”
As I already stated, the tax system is unfair. Wealthy people do not pay their “fair share.” While what a “fair share” is and who are the rich are both debatable, most people would argue that it’s not right that wealthy jet-owners get tax subsidies while average people are struggling to pay their bills. This is not just socialist blabble. It’s logic. It only makes sense that if someone makes millions of dollars, he/she should pay a significantly greater percentage of his/her income in taxes. For example, Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest people in the country, pays less of a percentage in taxes than his secretary, who makes significantly less money than he does. Buffet himself has advocated for the tax code to be modified to tax more heavily people in his wealth bracket. And, a majority of Americans have advocated for this policy, as a Pew poll found that 67% of Americans believe the more high earners income should be subject to being taxed for Social Security, 66% of Americans support raising taxes on incomes of over $250,000, and 62% support closing corporate tax loopholes. We live in a democracy. That sounds to me like enough evidence that our tax code needs to be reformed.
The money that would come from these taxes could go to building better infrastructure, paying off the deficit, and giving more substantial federal subsidies and loans to college students. By paying greater amounts in federal financial aid, the federal government is making a greater investment in its and its children’s futures and is helping to promote a more skilled, educated, and college debt-free future generation. Paying off the deficit with increased taxes would give the government more flexibility to maintain programs such as Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid that help millions of people. As I said before, this is not socialist blabble. It’s not a case of the government imposing what it wants on the people. In fact, a recent PoliticusUSA report stated that 19 different polls showed that the majority of Americans “support increasing taxes in order to reduce the deficit and inequality.” Building better infrastructure would ensure that our nation’s roads, bridges, and tunnels are safe and would create millions of jobs. We can’t just sit back and let our nation’s infrastructure crumble. More than a quarter of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Again, this idea is supported by a majority of Americans. USNews reported that 94% of Americans support a national effort to build up the country’s infrastructure. Additionally, 81% of Americans say they are prepared to pay 1% more in federal taxes to support infrastructure projects. This huge majority in favor of federal infrastructure projects shows their importance, their imperativeness, and the huge support behind this very important policy.
Increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans would also help the economy and whole country in a more general sense. By increasing taxes on the rich and decreasing them on the lower and middle-class Americans, average Americans will have more money to spend on cars, insurance, toys for their children, and essential items (things like food). When they spend more money, it creates work for other people, who get more money and spend it on more products, and the cycle continues. This idea is not new. In an advertisement from the 1930s, it was very clearly expressed. “When you buy an automobile you give 3 months’ work to someone, which allows him to buy other products. Buy a car now—help bring back prosperity,” it reads. While specific to automobiles in this case, the sentiment is nearly exactly the same.
We need a solution to this problem that reflects these ideas. We need a solution that provides economic relief to those who need it most: the middle and lower classes—those who earn under $250,000, perhaps (as the aforementioned poll suggested). Right now the highest tax bracket percentage is 35% for people making over $379,150 and no higher than 15% if you make no more than $34,500. If we could increase the first statistic to anywhere from 37% to 40% and lower the latter statistic to 10% to 12%, it would make a huge difference. We could begin to rebuild our infrastructure. Future generations wouldn’t have to worry about Social Security disappearing. Students can work hard, attend a good college, and get a nice job without having to have nightmares about paying for it. That’s only possible if we make the current tax code more fair.
This is an official blog entry for the YourLocalSecurity.com <a href=”http://yourlocalsecurity.com/scholarship“>Blogging Scholarship</a>. If selected, I’ll receive $1000 towards my college expenses in 2012. This scholarship is sponsored by <a href=”http://yourlocalsecurity.com“>YourLocalSecurity.com</a>
