EDITORIAL
Congress will have another opportunity to do the right thing this next fortnight. It will get the opportunity to extend tax relief to the majority of people in this land who work for wages and pay withholding taxes, righting a wrong that is clear to any fair minded citizen.
This not a small matter. Most Americans who don’t have accountants specializing in finding tax loopholes are affected by it. The tax savings is significant, averaging about $1,000 per worker. You would think it is a “no brainer” and would be adopted overwhelmingly.
Think again. Nothing is easy in this divided Congress. Presidential politics have reared the ugliest head. There are straight-faced arguments being made against President Obama’s proposal to extend the existing withholding reduction.
Under Obama’s proposal, the lost funds caused by this reduction would be funded by a tax on a sizable portion of the wealthiest people in the U.S. who skate by without paying any income tax at all.
It’s an outrageous situation, made worse by the fact that most Republicans in Congress are opposing the extension.
Theodore Roosevelt, who along with fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln, is considered by historians to be among our top 10 presidents. He initiated the modern income tax back 100 years ago, motivated by the fact that many of the worst robber barons whom he successfully battled for control of the Republican Party, rode scott free when it came to paying a dime in federal taxes.
Most Americans of every stripe believe that the cost of government should be spread among us all on a fair and equal basis. Continuation of the withholding reduction is justified and should have nothing at all to do with presidential politics.
On this matter, petty politics should be put on the shelf. Congress should pass it as a Christmas present to the Main Street people who are the backbone of this nation. After all Wall Streeters have already reaped their harvest and it was most bountiful.
