Richard D. Christian: If tax rate was fair under Reagan, why not under Obama?
Re “What exactly is fair share?” (Letters, Jan. 22): The letter writer says President Obama wants the evil 1 percent to pay their fair share. President Obama’s proposal is to raise the maximum long-term capital gains rate from 23.8 percent to 28 percent, which was the rate in force when Ronald Reagan was president.
Would a “fair” rate under Reagan be an “unfair” rate under Obama? The comment that corporate America pays over 30 percent in taxes, which is much higher then any other country, does not tell the whole story. Despite earning millions in profits, many corporation pay no income taxes at all. These include GE, Verizon, Boeing, PG&E and many more.
The conservative-leaning Supreme Court recently found in Citizens United that corporations are people. People pay income taxes. Why do so many corporations not pay income taxes?
So what’s fair? It is not fair to try to stain President Obama’s legacy with Al Sharpton’s tax problems.
Richard D. Christian, Modesto
This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Richard D. Christian: If tax rate was fair under Reagan, why not under Obama?."