In your Nov. 21 issue [letter writer] Larry Dansinger says, “… those with less money pay proportionately more of their money in taxes than the very wealthy…,” and proposes to raise taxes for the wealthy. In the same issue, Irvin Dube claims our government has been hijacked by the wealthy.

The Internal Revenue Service gives us some interesting and refuting statistics: The 5 percent richest with a national income share of 35 percent contributes 56 percent of our taxes, whereas the bottom 50 percent with an income share of 13 percent contribute less than 4 percent.

With Dansinger’s higher taxes on the wealthy we would emulate the European tax systems with the inevitable higher unemployment. Why do nations deliberately hurt their economies with a too steeply progressive tax rate? Because economists have little influence and politicians, whose main goal is to be elected rather than legislate for a strong economy, set the rates. And soaking the rich minority has always been a superb vote getter.

Bo Thott

Cutler