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Lungren's Town Hall Meeting
I found the Town Hall Meeting on August 20th with Representative Dan Lungren to be incredibly frustrating to say the least. First of all, the set up was such that those who wanted to ask questions or make comments had to get the attention of the mike runner which was nearly impossible. It would have been better to have a podium where people could line up as they do for Board of Supevisors or City Council meetings. Secondly, Lungren appeared to be pandering to Tea Party advocates and got angry at those who dared raise questions on taxation of the rich. He made the ludicrous comment that in the 1980's a tax on luxury items, such as yachts, resulted in fewer boats being built thereby putting yacht builders (?) out of work--not a particularly reasonable or relevant comparison. He went on to say that taxes on the wealthy in the U.S. are too high, which may be true in terms of total percentage but lower than most countries if you compare to the percentage of GDP. Taxing the wealthy according to Lungren (he had no explanation why GE didn't pay any taxes last year) would result in "class warfare." Really!! Here are some startling facts: Corporations and multi-millionaires pay an average tax rate of 17% as opposed to 35%. With the Bush tax cuts and reduced capital gains tax, this rate may be even lower. Many corporations are building or investing in factories overseas where profits can be sheltered in off-shore accounts and Swiss banks. If there is "class warfare" it is against the Middle Class who bear the brunt of the tax burden and,as Warren Buffett remarked, pay more in taxes overall. Mr. Lungren may be unaware that income disparity between the rich and the poor in the U.S. is growing at an alarming rate. We are 46th in the world, just in front of Jamaica and Uganda! And yes, Mr. Lungren, it is true that the walthiest 1% of Americans possess 40% of privately held resources and the top 20% have 84% of all wealth (Census Bureau statistics). He needs to be more informed about these numbers. Lungren's nonsensical solution, said with tongue-in-cheek, is to have the wealthy people, such as Buffett, send checks to the IRS to assuage their guilt. Lungren's elitist attitude is the result of his alliance with large corporations and powerful lobby groups who dictate policy to members of Congress. We need to close the tax loop holes for the wealthy and "stop coddling" those at the top who do not pay their fair share at the expense of everyone else. Submitted by Marilyn Nutter
Posted at Sep 19, 2011 12:23 PM by Democratic Central Committee in General | Comments[0]