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The congressional budget does not require a tax increase
Re: “What really went down with McCain’s f-bomb,” Opinion Roundup, May 22
The budget extends middle-class tax relief and provides a one-year fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax. And it allows for new tax relief and the extension of other expiring provisions, as long as they are paid for.
In fact, over the five years of the budget, revenues total $14.828 trillion, which is virtually identical to the president’s level of $14.826 trillion, as estimated by his own administration. Revenues are only 2.1 percent above the president’s level, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office.
The modest additional revenues in the budget are not a result of any assumption regarding the expiration of upper-income tax cuts. Instead, we believe the difference in revenue can be achieved by closing the tax gap, shutting down abusive tax shelters and addressing offshore tax havens — without raising taxes.
According to the IRS, the annual tax gap — the amount of taxes owed under current law, but not paid — was $345 billion in 2001. And the gap has likely grown much larger since then. At the same time, the Treasury is losing $100 billion each year to abusive tax shelters and offshore tax havens. Recovering just a small percentage of this lost revenue could fund the nation’s priorities, while lowering the tax burden on the vast majority of honest taxpayers who pay what they owe.
The good news is that the just-adopted budget can be implemented without raising taxes on anyone.
Come here legally — or don’t come at all
Re: “Outdated immigration law should be broken,” From Readers, May 22
It’s inaccurate to parallel the illegal immigrant agenda to the African-American struggle for civil rights in America. African-Americans demanded that our government enforce rights we had as citizens. During the civil rights movement, the struggle was for justice and equality for citizens disenfranchised by greed via racism. Reform was accomplished through new laws derived from American ideals.
If illegal immigrants seek to parallel such a reputable fight, they need to fight for justice and reform in their nations of origin as American blacks have done.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was willing to be incarcerated to establish his moral agenda. He simply wanted government to do its job and fought in the spirit of justice, not greed. But illegal immigrants want laws bent in their favor so they can make more money here than they could “over there.” Such an agenda shows a disregard for the American system and must not be tolerated. Immigrants should come legally, or don’t come at all.
Jim Crow laws sought to maintain a permanent lower class based on race. If there is no sensible solution to our illegal immigrant crisis, we run the risk of repeating history by allowing this old racist vision to prevail. We must beware, as many view people with brown skin merely as those who “do the jobs Americans won’t do.”
Minor reduction in school budget is a start
Re: “Record budget for Montgomery Co.,” May 18
The good news, at least for Montgomery County, is that there has been some opposition to the spiraling, out-of-control demands from the Board of Education, both from the County Council and from County Executive Ike Leggett.
While everyone wants a superior education for students in the Montgomery County Public School system, there must be some fiscal restraint exercised. While only a small step, the reduction to 99.6 percent of the requested amount for schools is a step in the right direction.
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