Everyday people will pay for failure of 'fair tax'

How much money and how much power do you need? Can't someone who makes $10 million a year pay $800,000 in taxes? Why would we make the person who makes only $50,000 a year pay $4,000 in taxes? That's what the flat tax would do at 8%. Why not let the $50,000 person pay $3,000 at a tax rate of 6% while making the $10 million earner pay $800,000 at a tax rate of 8%, to improve the quality of life for all Illinois residents?

The money saved by the lower income bracket person would help to improve their quality of life so much more than money saved by the wealthiest taxpayers with the continued use of the flat tax.

Republicans often try to give us the worse case scenario when we try to change things. Honestly, with the fair tax they made it seem like the Democrats were coming for everyone's money when in reality not passing the fair tax will probably cause real estate taxes to increase once again which disproportionately affects middle class people.

Perhaps if the fair tax had passed, the increased revenue generated from the wealthiest might have eliminated the need to increase property taxes as well as the state income tax for everyone, which are both likely to happen. I respond to those who say but "they will eventually increase state income taxes on everyone" to vote them out if that happens. We would never have gotten social security benefits, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, which were initially thought to be terrible policies by Republicans, but have now become some of the most popular legislation in history. We can't afford to let fear of what could happen guide our decision making any longer.

Ellen O'Brien

Mount Prospect