Need balanced approach

I was amused to read Ms. Skaer’s letter (“Low taxes pay off”) that defended the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and the historically low tax rate they now enjoy. I noticed that she was careful to limit her remarks to federal income taxes.

Many Americans who do not earn enough to pay federal income tax do pay in other ways, for example, through payroll taxes (deductions for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance). In fact, once all taxes are taken into account, the richest 1 percent pay about 28 percent of total federal taxes. It should be noted that they also make 25 percent of total income.

As for corporations, I think it is common knowledge that they exploit various loopholes and tax breaks to reduce their IRS bills. Any misplaced sympathy for our corporations should be alleviated by figures released recently by the Commerce Department that indicate that corporate profits accounted for 14 percent of the total national income in 2010, the highest proportion ever recorded.

It is silly to cry “class warfare” when President Obama points to the growing discrepancies in wealth in this country and quite reasonably calls for a more balanced approach to solving our problems.

Miranda Shaw

Spokane