American history proves making the ultra wealthy pay their fair share improves our economy.
The history of taxation in America proves that the ultra-wealthy will always attempt to use their economic and political power to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. When they are made to pay what they should, our economy thrives. When they are allowed to avoid paying their fair share the majority of Americans suffer.
The stock market crashed in 1929, which caused unemployment to surge to 25%. Working conditions were miserable since the government at that time did not enforce any worker protections. Unemployed people and poorly paid workers often starved. The top tax bracket in America was 24%.
The revenue act of 1932 raised the top bracket to 63% and gave Franklin Roosevelt’s administration the funding it needed to enact the New Deal. Programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps put Americans to work and built important infrastructure. The ultra rich paying more fixed our economy.
The top tax bracket in America slowly was raised till it reached 94% (See Wolters Kluwer History of Income Taxes) in 1944. These rates enabled America to pay off the war debts and rebuild America. America had a top tax rate of 91% from 1945 to 1963. While the rich were paying their fair share, electricity to rural homes went from 33.3% to 96%.
This was the period when America became the world’s biggest and strongest economy. We did great things when the ultra-wealthy paid their fair share, such as, the World’s Best Ground Transportation Network with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of ’44 and the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of ‘56.
The top tax rate was 70% all the way from 1965 to 1981. Then President Ronald Reagan decided rich people should no longer pay their fair share. He first lowered it to 50% and then he lowered it again to 38.5%. To pay for these cuts, he cut public services.
The top tax rate has been in the ‘30s since 1989. Currently, 14.3 percent of our children live in poverty.
Washington’s tax system is the second most regressive tax system in the U.S.
• Regressive tax systems take from the working class.
• Progressive tax systems shift the burden to those who have gained the most from society.
Washington’s Regressive Tax System:
• Poorest 20%: 13.8% of their income goes to taxes.
• Middle 20%: 10.9% of their income goes to taxes.
• Richest 1%: 4.1% of their income goes to taxes.
I propose that we are in a similar situation to what Americans experienced in 1929. America has become an oligarchy where the working class are starving while the ultra-rich are getting richer all the time at the expense of the American people. We need to tax the ultra-rich at a much higher rate like Franklin Roosevelt did so that we can rebuild America.
Vote no on I-645 so that the ultra-rich in Washington pay their fair share!
Daniel Meehof
Packwood
