Opinion: Reynolds’ ‘flat tax’ is just a ruse to let the rich avoid their civic duty – Iowa City Press-Citizen

Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick| Press-Citizen opinion writers

A mans taxes are what he pays for the protection of his life and property, and for the conditions of public prosperity in which he shares. He ought to pay his just portion of the expense of government. To endeavor to avoid this, and to throw the burden upon others is unjust and mean. Joseph Alden, "Christian Ethics"

This sentiment, that taxes are a public good that bring civilization, prosperityand glory for ones state or country, was common in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Taxes were a responsibility of citizenship, and shirking them was shameful, not something to flaunt.

People who did better were expected to contribute more to their communities. The highest earners contributed the most to paying for schools, roadsand other common goods. Our tax system reflected those expectations: we had many tax brackets and top marginal tax rates up to 92% even at the peak of the anti-Communist "Red Scare."

That civic commitment stands in stark contrast to our governors signature legislative achievement this year: cutting tax brackets and chopping the top rate.

What are tax brackets? They are like a series of buckets.

The first bucket holds the first money you make. Lets say it holds $10,000 and is taxed at 1%.

The second bucket might hold your next $10,000 of income and be taxed at a higher rate, 2%.

As you make more money, you fill more buckets, with each one taxed at a higher rate.

So when the top marginal tax rate was 92%, the richest people were not paying 92% of their income as taxes. Instead, it meant that those whose incomes were absurdly high ($2.6 million in 1952, which equals $28.4 million today), sent 92% of their earnings in the last bucket to our communities.

During the 1980s, the tax code was simplified by reducing the number of tax brackets. At the same time, the top marginal tax rate was reduced from 70% in 1980 to 28% in 1989.

Between the simplification and the lower rates, the U.S. revenue from taxes barely budged, when adjusted for inflation, between 1980 and 1989. At the same time, our national debt soared, and wealth inequality began to increase.

There was virtue in reducing the number of tax brackets when taxes were prepared with pencil, paperand endless tax rate charts in IRS booklets. But when most people use software to prepare their taxes, cutting taxbrackets overwhelmingly benefits only the wealthy.

And in benefiting the wealthy alone, weve lost the plot when it comes to promoting the general welfare of the United States and its citizens. With the rise of libertarianism and the myth of the self-made billionaire, weve allowed the wealthy to turn their backs on us, their fellow-citizens, on our common good, and on their just portion of the expense of government.

In Iowa, our Republican Legislature continues to mindlessly choke off our states income. Their new tax scheme rushed through so that it could be a talking point in the State of the Union rebuttal will eventually result in a tax rate of 3.9% for all Iowans.

That burden will fall far more heavily on minimum wage earners than CEOs. The cuts to state income eliminate billions that we could have invested in Iowas prosperity and ensure that our public school funding and public school ranking will continue their downward slide.

Instead of investing in our future, our Legislature has heaped tax credits on corporations like John Deere, which repay the favor by moving jobs to Mexico. Its past time we remember that our state and country are public projects: everyones benefit and everyones responsibility.

Lets elect people this November who will focus not on slavishly cutting taxes but on the fundamentals: meeting every Iowans basic needs and getting us back to supporting the public schools that support our future. Anything less would be uncivic.

Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City.

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Opinion: Reynolds' 'flat tax' is just a ruse to let the rich avoid their civic duty - Iowa City Press-Citizen