Chicago PM Monday 23 July 2012 

Voice of the people, Chicago Tribune  

Gentlepeople:

A letter in the Chicago Tribune 'Immature D.C.' [Monday 23 July] laments that when “...the country is in an economic turndown... politicians should take the situation seriously”  but that “... we've been treated to an unprecedented amount of partisan temper tantrums....”

The Statistical Abstract of the United States shows 73% of all federal taxes, even though credited to individual taxpayers, actually came from employer bank accounts, not taxpayer bank accounts (withholding.) Sure, the employee gets a note from the employer:  “We had to send this money to the feds under jail threat, but if we weren't we would give it to you.”   Compounding this problem:  employers do the only thing they can do:  add the cost of that tax to the price of their product, changing what are supposed to be voter paid income taxes to a national sales tax.  Added irritant:  how often do you hear:  “I paid in!  I deserve Social Security!  I deserve medicare! 

The solution to this scam: Get a majority of the House of reps, 60 Senators, and a President with backbone enough to change the US Tax code from "every employer making payment of wages shall deduct and withhold upon such wages a tax..." to "every employer making payment of wages shall pay all of those wages to the employee...." The employer would still calculate the tax, including a note to the employee: "Here is what the feds are expecting you personally to remit in 30 days"

Returning to the 90% of voters who are wage earners the responsibility of writing monthly checks to fund the government would encourage voting for legislators more likely to “take the situation seriously”  and less likely to participate in “partisan temper tantrums”

Arnold H Nelson   ah_nelson@yahoo.com