Taxation
needed for more societal contributions
Lauren
Williams
Republicans
are notorious for their disregard of
the lower class. An obvious example is
the lessening of social programs. The
funds necessary for these programs comes
from taxes, which conservatives condemn
vehemently.
Last
year Congress passed a bill saving large
corporations $135 billion per year in
taxes. When the Senate re-adjourns it
will be considering another tax break
for the wealthy, which could
be catastrophic for many Americans.
The
bill currently in limbo could eliminate
the estate tax. Most readers are probably
unaware of this tax, and understandably
so. It only applies to the wealthiest
Americans. The estate tax is used only
when someone inherits an estate of more
than $1 million. This tax only affects
about 2 percent of all inheritance cases
per year.
The
revenue generated from this tax is about
$1.5 billion a week. Several social programs
are desperate for assistance from the
government including Social Security,
public schools and, of course, the thousands
of people who were displaced due to Hurricane
Katrina. The national debt is rising
$1.66 billion per day. The war in Iraq
is costing about $1.5 billion a day.
Congress feels it would be prudent to
cut a huge source of revenue from the
nation’s income.
The
elimination of the estate tax will prove
to be an egregious error that can only
be detrimental to the majority of our
nation’s citizens. Taxes are a
necessary evil that provide for survival,
like food, public healthcare and education.
The idea of eliminating taxes and allowing
people to use the added income for necessities
is absurd.
Those
who have abundant money should feel morally
obligated to contribute to our nation’s
citizens, rather than greedily hoarding
it. The elimination of the taxes that
create substantial revenue only further
stratifies our society. As the wealth
remains in the hands of the rich, the
poor have fewer services available and
are therefore less likely to make any
monetary success.
Our
nation’s legislators are among
the wealthiest in the nation. Because
of this they create biased legislation
in favor of themselves, rather than the
ordinary citizens. Hopefully constituents
will remember this betrayal when it is
time to vote.
Lauren
Williams is a sophomore journalism
major. |
