Opinions

Millionaires make case for increased taxes

Taxing the wealthiest portion of Americans has been a large issue for quite some time now “1-percenters” are often seen as selfish individuals who are unwilling to pay their fair share. While this is certainly the case regarding many people in this category, there is a group known as The Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength leading the way in the movement to increase taxes on themselves and others like them.

The group formed in 2010 in order to push for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. According to their website, they seek “to highlight the issue of imbalance in the relative tax obligation carried by various income levels of taxpayers.” Although the group is relatively small at only 200 or so members, it’s very important to take notice of their message.

A press conference was held on Nov. 14 and about a dozen representatives from the group met with lawmakers over the following days to discuss raising taxes.

What’s interesting about this is that their purpose doesn’t seem to be to make this an entirely political issue. CEO of iControl Systems, T.J. Zlotnisky stated, “There’s an assumption that everyone here is of one political persuasion. I don’t think it’s about that. I think it’s about putting American’s first.”

There is a clear imbalance in the way the wealthiest American’s have been taxed in comparison to the rest of the country. This becomes especially clear when the millionaires themselves take notice and are doing something to change the pattern of inequality.

CEO of NuCompass Mobility, Frank Patitucci said that by allowing the extremely wealthy to pay such a small amount of taxes “We’re losing the opportunity to achieve the American dream the way we have.” Patitucci’s statement demonstrates a point-of-view that is not prevalent enough in discussions about taxation. It’s important to consider the message of these individuals when looking at the non-political side of fair taxation.

The Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength doesn’t side with a particular political party and their message is simple: we are not unwarranted in asking those who make huge amounts of money to give back to the country that allowed them to become millionaires in the first place.

In the video on the homepage of their website, Google Software Engineer David Watson says, “Rich people are not the cause of a robust economy, they’re the result of a robust economy.” Overall, this is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when considering these issues. If we seek to better the country, we have to give people the opportunity to do so and asking millionaires to pay more taxes is one way to make sure this is possible.