Regarding your editorial "Where the Tax Money Is" (April 18): President Obama has repeatedly stated that he will not raise taxes on the middle class, yet the devil is in the details.
The elimination of tax deductions is yet another way to increase tax revenue without increasing income tax rates on the middle class. The 1986 tax reform that eliminated the deduction for consumer interest payments is a good example. This same model is being recycled today in the form of mortgage interest. The resulting tax revenue from these eliminations will come from the middle class because they are the largest social class in the U.S., and they represent the largest total taxable adjusted gross income.
Washington targets the middle class because that is where the big money is and it is less controversial than entitlement and military budget reform. However, the reverse also holds true. If we are to address our budget deficit, we must go where the big money is—entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, pensions) and defense. Any proposal that does not address major reform to these programs must be rejected.
Sandy Ackerman
San Diego
Am I the only one who sat up when President Obama, in his budget speech, referenced the middle class as: "They don't usually itemize"? In my experience (age 69), income above $50,000-75,000 represented a middle class which usually itemized. Your chart illustration "The Middle Class Tax Target" confirms President Obama's stealth intention to target this income bracket and above. Mr. Obama has redefined the middle class tax category by a lower bracket reference, in essence elevating those who itemize into the tax-targeted company of General Electric or Warren Buffett. The president is literally redefining our economy. Do Americans understand this?
Nancy Fetherston
St. James, N.Y.
It's generally not understood how little actual federal tax reduction wealthier filers get from the state tax deduction. At about the $380,000 level cited in the editorial, the Alternative Minimum Tax gobbles it all up. Even though I have an NYU master of law degree in taxation, I can't explain how or why. All I know is that at about that level, if one adds another hypothetical $10,000 of state tax deduction, the amount of federal income tax owed doesn't change.
John Hazelwood
Winnetka, Ill.
We were struck that so little income was associated with $1 million-and-up filers, until we realized that your chart does not include many items of nontaxable income. Perhaps the reason that the Ryan plan is opposed by the liberal wealthy elites is not because it will lower their tax rates, but rather because it may eliminate many special interest loopholes from which they and their investments benefit today.
Timothy Dreisbach
S. Royalton, Vt.
Whenever I hear politicians say "tax the rich," I know that the middle class will pay.
Gordon Baumbacher
Kentfield, Calif.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 