To the editor:

Almost 80 percent of Americans believe that the wealthiest percentage of our population should be paying a much higher rate of income taxes. The rate for our richest taxpayers is now approximately 18 percent, which is the lowest rate for taxation of any class of taxpayers. The history of American taxation during the Second World War discloses that on the increasing scale, the highest rate was 90 percent of income on the top dollars earned.

I recall that in my early business career in 1965 and a few years after that, I was paying 70 percent of the top dollars that I earned. This was the first time that I was aware of higher taxes, but I was happy to be able to earn so much money and I remember thinking, “What a wonderful country to be able to make so much money.” I remember being so proud of being in the highest bracket.

The current Republican Congress seems intent upon keeping the tax rates low. During George W. Bush’s eight years as president, he signed commitments to lower taxes to the point that when he left office, his combination of lowered taxes and increased expenditures on two unnecessary wars, created the largest national debt in history up to that time. After that, President Barack Obama, in attempting to bring the country out of the Bush Depression has continued to increase the national debt.

We are now at a point of grave danger. How can anyone think that lower taxes will save our country?