Robert G. Grimm – 3/16/08

This page was last updated on March 17, 2008.

Middle class is under siege; Robert G. Grimm; Beaver County Times; March 16, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I received in the mail an important message from the IRS telling me that I might be eligible for a $600 ‘Economic Stimulus Payment.’

“I then heard on the news that the federal government spent $43 million to send out these letters telling people that they were going to receive this payment if they qualify. Another case of our tax dollars at work.

“How ridiculous can that be? As I pull up to the gas pump knowing that the government is going to give me enough money to fill my gas tank for maybe a month, I wonder what the future holds not only for me but for my children and grandchildren.”

[RWC] Given a previous letter from Mr. Grimm, I was pleasantly surprised up to this point. Unfortunately, the letter ran off the rails in the next paragraph.

“Soon there will only be two classes in this country, the rich and the poor. If our government continues to tax the middle class and expects them to pay to keep this country afloat, there will soon be no middle class.”

[RWC] This is the “two Americas” BS John Edwards tried to sell us during the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Mr. Grimm apparently believes “the rich” don’t pay their share of taxes. IRS data shows the top 5% income earners pay 60% of total federal income taxes while the bottom 50% pay only 3% of total federal income taxes. The average rate for the top 1% is about 23% while the average rate for the bottom 50% is only 3%. According to the Tax Foundation, a source used by the Times, “7.8 million low and middle-income families had their entire income tax liabilities erased by the [2001 and 2003 tax rate] cuts.” As a result of the tax rate cuts, in 2004 approximately 44 million filers had no income tax liability, and some actually received “refunds” (the earned income tax “credit” is an example) for taxes they didn’t pay.