Letters to the editor: NY Times - 11/29

To the Editor:

Neither the Bush nor the Obama administration has dealt with the gross income inequality in this country — the worst in a century — coupled with crippling unemployment.

The actions that would actually get us back to a more fair and equal society are not surprising:

¶Social Security and Medicare taxes should be levied on all income.

¶Hedge fund income should be treated and taxed as ordinary income, not capital gains.

¶Very high salaries should be taxed at a rate of 50 percent or more, which would discourage extravagant pay for chief executives.

¶Our troops should be pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, of course, extending Medicare to everyone would save even more money.

These measures would balance the budget, extend the solvency of Social Security and return military spending to a more reasonable portion of the budget.

We would also put money into the pockets of working men and women, leading to greater consumer demand and fuller employment far more rapidly than cutting taxes on the wealthy.

These options are not part of Representative Paul Ryan’s “roadmap,” nor Erskine B. Bowles and Alan K. Simpson’s draft proposal as deficit commission co-chairmen, nor The Times’s Nov. 14 online budget balancing exercise.

James J. Diamond
Portland, Ore., Nov. 15, 2010