President Obama called for 'shared sacrifice' in his weekly address yesterday. How about shared success? If you punish success, how in the world do you expect people to aspire to it?
This is a quote from the speech:
"We shouldn't put the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of folks who've already borne the brunt of the recession. It's not reasonable and it's not right. If we're going to ask seniors, or students, or middle-class Americans to sacrifice, then we have to ask corporations and the wealthiest Americans to share in that sacrifice. We have to ask everyone to play their part. Because we are all part of the same country. We are all in this together."
The wealthiest Americans are paying their part. The richest 20 percent of Americans paid 68.9 percent of federal taxes, and the top 1 percent paid 28.1 percent. There are also figures that show that about 50 percent of Americans pay no taxes at all (including General Electric--which did not break the law, but used the loopholes available). I am not in favor of 'raising taxes on the rich.' I am in favor making sure everyone pays something--even if it is $100 a year. Meanwhile--it's the spending stupid!
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