Maybe the reason most polls indicate the American people are skeptical about tax cuts is that we are promised tax cuts every election but rarely get them. People get tired of broken promises. Does columnist John Buell (BDN, Sept. 28) call it economic justice when I pay the taxman more from my business than I get to keep, only to see the money wasted?

In Maine we pay roughly 40 percent of everything we make in taxes — 25 percent federal, 15 percent state and local; and they are so good at hiding many of these taxes that it’s hard to tell when your pocket has been picked. Instead of relying on polls why doesn’t Buell ask some real people if they think taxes are too high? When he suggests children could borrow enough money to pay the taxes if their parents die to keep the family farm or business, he tells us how out of touch he is. In today’s climate of high taxes and low profits, those people couldn’t pay the interest on those loans and make a decent wage so they would be forced to sell.

How can Buell call that justice when the parents have already paid taxes on that money? When married couples pay more in taxes than the same couple living together? In the United States, 10 percent of the people pay 90 percent of the income tax, so any time there is a reduction in rates the rich will benefit more. I don’t care as long as I get to keep more of the money I work so hard to earn. Doug Thomas Ripley