No, Our Society Can't Go On Like This- The Tax Problem We Must Solve

You live in a great country, and I don't mean that in some abstract, patriotic way. We aren't born special, we're not "closer to God," or anything like that. We're a great country in a more grounded, real way. We have a high standard of living. We have a military that is the envy of the world. We have a public school for everyone, paved roads, clean and running water, and even safe food to eat. Unemployment for people seeking work is closer to 5%, and only about 10% of our population doesn't have health insurance now. We have police and fire fighters that keep us safe, and we almost all have housing. Our culture is one that people around the world seek, and our entertainment options are plentiful. We have great cities, tall skyscrapers, beautiful mountains and plains, and glorious shorelines. We live in an amazing country. It is arguable, but I would argue that it is the best in the world. Not because it was born as such, but because Americans made it such.

Great countries cost money to maintain though, and there are cracks on the horizons. Crumbling infrastructure, bad housing policies, climate change concerns, cyber-security fears, and many more major issues are in our future, and we will need to have the money to fix our weaknesses in those areas. America does not have high taxes, but our middle-class, consumer-class, earners are paying too high of a share of the load. Sure, we all understand why the poor don't pay, and no one's arguing for that. The rich probably get away with not paying enough, but the raw dollar amount they pay is still pretty high, and this problem could be fixed with a few simple fixes. For decades though, we have bowed at the altar of low corporate taxes, and I don't see why. Oh yes, we have a high "corporate tax rate," but that is incredibly misleading. After applying all the loopholes, many companies not only pay some of the lowest rates in the world here, they actually make a profit on us. Companies- General Electric, Verizon, Boeing, Bank of America, CitiGroup, FedEx, Pfizer, Merck, and others- actually sometimes get tax returns in the billions, and owe nothing on their profits. Their actual marginal rates generally end up well below 35%, and they end up paying a much smaller share on their billions than the general public does.

This has to stop. Our nation cannot continue to be great without the revenue to do so, and we can't keep asking the middle class to pay all of that revenue. For those that say asking corporations to pay more will kill our economy, I remind you that history says otherwise. We once had responsible corporate citizens in this country, and they not only paid their share, but we all prospered. It can be done.