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Letter draws wrong
conclusions on taxes
Re: “Top earners pay more than fair share” (Page A6, Feb. 20).
Mr. Heller claims that 46% of personal income tax collected by the IRS comes from the top 1% of taxpayers. He incorrectly concludes that rich people are paying their fair share.
We do not have a flat rate tax per person in this country, which would be the only system under which one could compare the percentage of payers to the percentage paid to determine “fair share.” Instead, we are taxed on our adjusted gross income, as Mr. Heller points out. Therefore, the correct conclusion is that the top 1% of taxpayers earned 46% of the taxable income reported.
Mr. Heller also mentions that the top 1% only accounted for 19% of total taxes paid in 1980. This only supports the fact that the gap between the rich and the middle class has widened considerably in the last 40 years.
Gael Treible
Danville
Carlson’s biggest
audience: Himself
Re: “Tucker Carlson acts as flack for Putin” (Page A7, Feb. 20).
I read with great interest John Hewko’s opinion piece about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin.
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When he left Fox News, I hoped Carlson might reach a much smaller audience with his lies, spins and general mischief-making. But he’s still at it with his great need for self-aggrandizement. Does he realize that he is fortunate that our country, unlike Russia, allows him to spread Putin’s lies without throwing him in jail?
As Hewko points out, Carlson went into the meeting unprepared. He knew practically nothing about Russian and Ukrainian history or about the United Nations, or anything for that matter. Did he even realize that Putin agreed to the interview knowing that the uninformed Carlson would spread his lies to a large audience in the United States?
The lengths to which Carlson will go in service to his own self-image never cease to amaze me.
Janet Quilici
Fremont
