Bush tax cut can hardly be described as 'fair'

Bush tax cut can hardly be described as 'fair'
EDITOR:
After reading the synopsis of the Bush tax cuts on the front page of the Mar. 9 edition of the Vindicator, I am quite perplexed as to Bush's stating "Everyone will gain with the new tax rates."
First of all, let's take a look at the comparison of a single person's rates. Now up to $27,050, the rate is at 15 percent. Bush's plan in five years, up to $6,000, rate of 10 percent. A big 5 percent decrease. But from $6,000 to $27,050 the rate remains the same at 15 percent. Where is the tax cut?
Going a bit further, for those who earn between $27,050 to $136,750, the current tax rate is between 28 percent and 31 percent.
Under the Bush plan, the rate would be 25 percent. -- a decrease of up to 6 percent. The current rate for incomes over $136,750 is between 36 percent and 39.6 percent. The Bush plan would change the rate to 33 percent. A decrease of up to 6.6 percent. Get the drift? The more you make, the bigger percentage of a tax cut you receive. I'm wondering if Bush is or is not a clone of Reagan. Remember his tax cuts?.
As an example: A person with $6,000 taxable income would net $300 per year under the Bush proposal. On the other hand, a person with $300,000 taxable income would net $19,800 per year. In fact, the $,6000-earning person would have to work more than a lifetime to attain the same $19,800 benefit (66 years to be exact). How fair is unfair?.
The "head of household" and "married-filing jointly" categories have the same degree of discrepancy.
I have devised in about 10 minutes, what I think is a more equitable tax structure as follows: In the zero to $27,050 bracket, a tax cut from 15 percent to 7 percent.
In the $27,050-$65,550 bracket, a tax cut from 28 percent to 24%.
In the $65,550-$136,750 bracket a tax cut from 31 percent to 27 percent.
In the $136,750-$297,350 bracket a tax cut from 36 percent to 33 percent.
$297,350-and-over bracket a tax cut from 39.6 percent to 37 percent.
Then the $6000 person would only have to work a little more than 16 years to reach the same benefit as the $300,000 person. Not the best, but a little better.
ART VERNER
Youngstown
Will American 'empire fall like ancient Rome's?
EDITOR:
Recently, while driving my granddaughter to kindergarten, I heard on the radio five incidents regarding school shootings: five students who felt shooting someone or scaring with a gun was the way to get attention for some disrespect shown them or some hurts done to them.
Tell me television violence is not the cause for all this danger in the schools. Don't these kids realize that television is not reality, but death is? Where are the parents of these children? Are they so busy they don't know the child's fears, hurts, feelings? Have we abandoned them to learn their value systems from television and video games?
When is the violence going to stop? Is the general public so needy for all the violence shown in most of our entertainment, that we no longer have any fear of God or responsibility for our families. Back in the era of "Father Knows Best" and the "Brady Bunch," I never heard of kids killing kids. This country, so far as families go, is headed like Rome -- down.
NANCY AULT
Boardman
Church has responsibility to clean up Idora site
EDITOR:
A recent Vindicator story said that the city can't afford the cleanup of the Idora Park Ballroom and the asbestos related problems.
Well, why should they have to worry about it? When Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church bought the property, I'm sure they had to know that anything built prior to the '60s most likely had to have asbestos in it. And unless they had an agreement with the the previous owners, they -- and no one else -- should be responsible, for any and all liabilities concerning that property.
It's time for Youngstown and all other cities and townships to start holding the owners of these contaminated properties responsible and stop passing it on to the taxpayer.
RUSSELL MONROE
Austintown