Wealthy need to do fair share

I feel compelled to comment on Herb Hupfer’s quip regarding the Buffett Tax proposal in the Daily Herald on April 20 stating that “there isn’t an economist, Democrat or Republican, who thinks that this tax will pay for Obama’s deficits for more than a month.”

Show me where President Obama claimed, directly or implied, that implementing the Buffett Tax would be a cure-all for paying down the national deficit.

In order to get America’s financial house in order, some honest, unselfish soul-searching needs to happen on both sides of the political aisle. Yes, fixing the tax system is important, but reducing the national debt is going to require cutting waste from programs and entitlements that are financially breaking the bank as well. Fixing our economic woes isn’t so much about increasing revenue, but it is more about downsizing government and cutting expenses that are unnecessary.

For starters, a tax code that is less convoluted and more fair needs to be adopted to insure every American is paying their fair share.

It amazes me that conservative politicians want union workers to make sacrifices like giving up benefits and having their bargaining rights compromised, but you never hear elected officials having an honest, open conversation in public about the cost to the American tax payers for their inflated salaries, health benefits and retirement pensions.

Why do we not hear our elected officials talking about what they personally are willing to give up to help reduce the deficit? Greed and their own sense of entitlement, that’s why! How individuals who identify themselves as middle class fiscal conservatives can’t see that these so called “public servants” don’t care about them, but are more concerned with enriching themselves than serving the best interests of their constituents and working to strengthen the financial stability of America baffles me.

Patrick Carle Gurnee