Looking for votes and money in one act, President Joe Biden declares the wealthy ought to shoulder a heavier tax burden to help fund Medicare (“Biden says new taxes on the rich can help save Medicare,” March 8, TribLIVE).
His “pay their fair share” plea makes a good headline. It appeals to many voters. If the Big Guy read more, he would have to conclude that the wealthiest among us already pay more than their fair share.
A March 4 Wall Street Journal editorial reported that “recently released IRS income and tax statistics for 2020 show the top 1% of earners paid 42.3% of the country’s income taxes, a two-decade high in the share of taxes the 1% pay.” Now Biden wants more.
Medicare is a good program. It is good to work on ensuring its future funding, but picking on the wealthy time and again is unfair and divisive. In addition to the heavy tax support they provide, many of the wealthy are also generous supporters of cultural institutions, universities, charities and much more that help enrich the lives of people at all income levels.
Scott Brown
Greensburg