TAXES

October 25, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Taxes

I hear you will be soon debating taxes in the House, and that you’re likely to rubber-stamp whatever comes down from the Senate. Do I have that right?

Here’s a view from one of your constituents: first, do not repeal what you like to call “death taxes”—presumably to make them look bad. It seems to me that $10 million is quite enough for a couple to hand down to their heirs before taxes, and probably much more than most of us are able to hand down anyway. It’s not like the remainder is stolen by the government: it is simply taxed. Which, in my view, is entirely appropriate. And don’t give me that old “small farms” argument. That’s been show to be nonsense. Repeal of the estate tax benefits ONLY the VERY rich.

Now I’m not well-enough informed to understand the intricacies of the tax cuts, but from everything I read it’s my clear understanding that the ones proposed by the Trump administration, contrary to their claims to help the middle class, also benefit primarily the top 1 - .1 percent. In order to achieve these massive benefits for the rich without adding substantially to the deficit, you are going to need to make proportionate cuts in spending; which means, of course, cutting spending on social programs and “entitlements”—a word I intensely dislike, since it’s used primarily disparagingly, for attacks on programs for the poor and the less well-off.

I’ve no doubt you’ll talk about closing “loopholes.” Do these include the right to deduct interest on home mortgage and state taxes? Charitable donations? The kind of things that help, yes, the middle class… How about cutting spending on the military instead? Oh, yes, that’s a sacred cow.

In any event, if you have the interest of the majority of your constituents at heart, you won’t vote for big tax cuts for the rich and pennies for the rest. Or will you?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

PS By the way, this is letter #171. Still no response. Do you care about constituents who have views other than yours?