America Long Ago Passed the Tax 'Tipping Point'

Adam Lerrick's "Obama and The Tax Tipping Point" (op-ed, Oct. 22)
notes that we are fast approaching the point at which those who don't
pay any federal income tax will be a majority of the electorate and
have the electoral muscle to affect programs paid for by taxes from
the other half of the society.

A rallying cry in the founding of our nation was "no taxation without
representation." But when the tax structure is so progressive that
half the population can create programs that are paid for by taxing
the other half, we have reached the point of "representation without
taxation" and turned our founding principles on their head.

We are currently witnessing a polarizing presidential campaign that
promises to confiscate the earnings of 5% of the population to buy the
votes of the other 95%. Am I the only member of the 95% who is
offended by the idea that it is acceptable in America to confiscate
another's earnings for my own comfort?

What irony to criticize the "greed" of Wall Street bankers while
voting for easy money taken from others.

Peter G. Coffey
Madison, Conn.

Adam Lerrick points out that 40% of those eligible to vote paid no
taxes in 2006 and under Barack Obama's proposal that will go up to
49%. Given Joe Biden's statement that paying higher taxes is
patriotic, it would seem that he was actually taking a very heavy shot
at a large chunk of his own ticket's constituency, basically calling
them unpatriotic for not only not wanting higher taxes, but indeed
paying no taxes at all. That is an interesting campaign tactic, and
what is worse, it seems to be working.

Larry Stewart
Vienna, Va.

If citizens do not pay taxes, they have less of a vested interest in
what their government is doing. "I don't care what they do with the
tax money, it's not mine anyway." This slowly, but eventually, leads
us away from democracy.

Gregory Bussell
Lincolnshire, Ill.

Prof. Lerrick points out that 40% of American adults pay no income
tax, a figure which would rise to 49% under Barack Obama's tax plan.
These figures, however, understate the magnitude of the situation and
therefore its effect on taxation and spending policies, since among
those who do pay income taxes are millions who are nonetheless net
recipients of direct payments vis-a-vis the government. Those millions
would include most government employees and pensioners as well as most
recipients of social security and other entitlements. Viewed in that
light, we have long passed the tipping point where a substantial
majority of voters can rationally conclude that more government
spending, and higher taxes as needed to support the higher level of
spending, are in their immediate self-interest.

David Zuckerberg
New City, N.Y.


I really like this line: "We are currently witnessing a polarizing
presidential campaign that promises to confiscate the earnings of 5%
of the population to buy the votes of the other 95%."