Readers Write

The taxpayers are angry

Retain the AIG bigwigs, but slash their salaries

I thought chief executive Edward Liddy made a persuasive case for retaining the folks at AIG so they could clean up their messes. And of course they ought to be paid for their work. How about $12.03 an hour? That's the median wage for hourly workers in New York. Seems fair to me.

Cheri Register, Minneapolis

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President Obama is the typical politician. He's a hypocrite. He expresses great outrage at the $160 million AIG retention bonuses, but he's OK with the $7 billion to $8 billion of earmarks in the latest budget. We taxpayers are on the hook for both of these giveaways. He should be angry at both of these situations.

Gerald Agrimson, Stillwater

Wow! Let's thank the AIG bigwigs for "some" of them giving back "half" of their bonuses! Are you for real?

Millions of us who gave our blood, sweat and tears every day didn't get any bonus for our work and now are laid off. And we spend our days trying to make the world a better place, not worrying about filling our pockets and driving the economy into the ground. We worry about how to pay the next bills while you worry about where to take your next vacation. I hope you sleep well at night.

Jason Hansmann, St. Bonifacius

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I'm a little surprised at the anger expressed toward one company in regard to its use of the federal bailout money. While I am frustrated with my hard-earned dollars going to pay million-dollar bonuses to poorly performing businesspeople, I expect other companies that are recipients of this money are doing similar things with it unless the money came with specific, verifiable restrictions. So far most other companies are keeping that a secret.

Dale Halvorsen, Apple Valley

Marty's elegant solution

Make Minnesota marriage a civil affair

Might it be time to recognize the separation of church and state — that marriage defined by state law is a civil contract? The law is not concerned with religious commitment. Sen. John Marty's proposed amendment — that would allow two citizens of the same sex to enter into such a civil contract — does not force any religious institution to perform or recognize such a contract unless it chooses to.

David Waterbury, Minneapolis

The rich aren't getting their money's worth

In Lori Sturdevant's March 15 column, there is mention made of a provision in a tax reform bill recently introduced by DFL Sen. Ann Rest that would return the state income tax rate to 1990s levels for filers earning more than $250,000 a year. Sturdevant expressed her support for this change because "it corrects an imbalance in which high-income Minnesotans pay a lower effective tax rate than middle earners do."

Advocates of this should stop looking at misleading indicators such as the comparison of effective tax rates across income levels. Instead, they should look at the most accurate measure of the "fairness" or "balance" of a tax system — a comparison of the taxes paid by income level relative to the payments/subsidies/benefits received from the government.

According to a March 2007 Tax Foundation study, for every dollar of income tax paid by the top 20 percent of income earners, only 41 cents is returned to them in the form of government payments/subsidies/benefits. For every dollar of taxes paid in by income earners in the lowest 20 percent bracket, $8.21 is returned to them in the form of government payments/subsidies/benefits.

How is the tax system is "unbalanced" in favor of the wealthy when it results in them realizing a 60 percent loss on every tax dollar that they are forced to pay?

Health impact taxes

Spread pain fairly among those who indulge

According to statistics reported in the media, approximately 20 percent of the adult population uses tobacco, more than 20 percent are obese and a significantly higher percentage consume alcohol. While tobacco, high-cholesterol food items and alcohol can each be detrimental to an individual's health and financially impact the general community, only tobacco users are singled out with "health impact" taxes. Why not also place additional taxes on alcohol and food items that have little or no nutritional value?

Full disclosure: I stopped drinking alcohol 34 years ago, I use tobacco products and I have a 6'0" frame with 195 pounds. This letter was prompted by the recent study on obesity.