Let tax cuts expire for everyone

I don’t pretend to know everything about the so-called fiscal cliff that is supposed to happen at the end of the year and all of the hysteria that has and is going on about it if Congress and the president can not come to an agreement. But I do believe this. Do away with all of Bush’s tax cuts for everyone. Use Mitt Romney’s tax returns for example. When he released his tax returns for the last couple of years, his final tax rate was only between 12 and 14 percent. He took advantage of current tax laws.

I am only using him as an example, but everyone, especially the rich, have so many ridiculous and legal deductions, that a 2 percent rise in income taxes will have no effect at all in my opinion. So, even if tax rates raise for everyone or for only the most wealthy, 99.9 percent of taxpayers will take advantage of legal deductions in the present tax code and pay nowhere near the maximum tax rate, so why is everyone getting so bent out of shape over tax raises? Let the tax cuts expire and this coming year, how about rewriting the tax code for everyone? Both sides of Congress sound like broken records every day. Both sides need to and can sacrifice and compromise. Can’t they just get along?

Alan Oslin

Everett