Frankly, I regard it as obscene to be talking about tax cuts for billionaires when veterans throughout this country are not getting the quality health care they need, are sleeping out on the streets and are waiting years to get the benefits to which they are entitled. What readers should understand is that the current tax debate in Congress is much less about public policy than about payback time for campaign contributors. The wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process. Now they want the politicians they helped elect to lower their taxes. Cutting capital-gains taxes is a bad idea.
Capital gains are profits from selling property such as stocks, bonds and real estate.
IRS statistics show that, under current law, the richest 1 percent of all tax filers receive almost two-thirds of all capital gains. In other words, a cut in capital gains taxes would mean another massive tax break for the richest Americans. The United States is a great country but, in many ways, we are not getting our priorities right. Rahter than giving more tax breaks to the wealthy, we should be concerned about extending Social Security and Medicare and making sure that every senior citizen in this country has access to affordable prescription drugs among many other important needs. Lastly, before we talk about tax breaks for millionaires, we should make certain that veterans do not have to beg for the benefits they were promised.