To the editor:

Allow me, one of our nation’s college students, to share a lesson I learned this election year. I heard Barack Obama raging against the injustice of our tax system, how the Republicans had given tax breaks to the rich while leaving the middle and lower classes to suffer. This made perfect sense to me, and I thought to myself, “Here’s one idea Obama has right. The upper class shouldn’t be getting tax cuts while the middle and lower classes are having a hard time.”

Alas, I failed to seriously consider the situation and get to the facts. Imagine my surprise when I did some research that is available to the public from the IRS. In 2005, the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. (with an adjusted gross income of $365,000 or higher) made up 38 percent of the income tax contribution. The top 5 percent (those with an adjusted gross income of $145,000 or higher) made 58 percent of the contribution. The top 50 percent paid 97 percent of all income taxes. Oh, and in 1997 the top 1 percent were giving 33 percent.

This revelation gives me a new understanding of a “big brother” system.

Isaac McPheeters,
Lawrence