I got a chuckle reading Gary F. Boothe's letter on July 7 about the rich. He seems to think people are rich because the rich are not taxed enough. That is funny -- 50 percent of the people in this country pay no income tax while the top 20 percent of income earners pay 90 percent of the income tax. It looks like many citizens aren't pulling their weight.
The rich are rich because they are smarter and more ambitious than the average person. There are three reasons why an otherwise healthy American won't be successful. They are either lazy, stupid or have substance abuse issues or some combination of the three. Those who are feeling wealth envy should examine their own lives. Are they stupid, lazy or drink or drug too much?
JERRY CZEBOTAR, Pasco
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I agree 100 percent with Jeremy Owen's Aug. 24 letter, that Democrats have pursued a failed Marxist strategy. Just look at the facts: 50 years ago, the top tax rate was 90 percent, now it's only 35 percent; the top 1 percent owned 35 percent of the country's wealth, and they still do.
It's the same pattern if you look at income: The ratio of CEO salaries to worker salaries was 50-to-1, now it's 400-to-1. The 1 percent richest share of the income went up an average of 130 percent in the last 30 years. The income share of the bottom 80 percent of earners decreased 20 percent.
You don't need any more proof than that for a failed strategy! And the Democrats think they can turn the tables by increasing the maximum tax rate on the rich from 35 percent to 38 percent?
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Why do Mitt Romney and other wealthy investors pay lower taxes on the income they make from investments than they would if they earned their millions from wages? Because Congress, through the tax code, has long treated investment more favorably than labor, seeing it as an engine for economic growth that benefits everyone.
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