The writer of the Oct. 6 letter “Higher taxes just trickle down” attacked my Oct. 1 letter, “Corporations can pay a fair share.” He said my letter suggested that by increasing corporate taxes, country’s financial problems would be eliminated, and that the cost of paying taxes would trickle down to customers in higher prices for goods.
With the financial strain of the pandemic and the expected significant cost for long-overdue infrastructure repair, no one can predict the financial demands that will be made on this country.
Instead, I argued for fair, shared financial responsibility, and cited as an example Amazon — which, after former President Donald Trump’s windfall tax reduction for corporations, posted income in 2018 of $11 billion and paid $0 in federal taxes. With credits and deductions, it received a refund of $129 million.
A 2020 study by the London School of Economics, covering 50 years of data from 18 countries, showed that the only significant effect of tax cuts to the rich was to increase income inequality, with little benefit to unemployment or economic growth.
And why should corporations and the rich control this narrative? What happened to being a master of one’s fate? Let the people control their own destinies to make their consumer choices. American self-help author Napoleon Hill, best known for his book “Think and Grow Rich,” stated it best: “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your destiny. You can make your life what you want it to be.”