The Greedy One Percent

To the Editor: 
Once again the Democrats are serving up that old stand-by; “greedy one-percenters” are the cause of so many of the ills that face our country today because they’re just not paying “their fair share.” The latest helping is being dished out from Bernie Sanders after he crushed Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. Old Bernie, it seems, wants to “even the playing field” by taking money from those who have earned it and “redistributing” it to those who have not. The primary recipients would be the 310 million people living in the United States, whose health care would then be totally free. Next would be all those who want to go to a public college, and are being programmed to believe that their tuition should be totally free.
In order to pay for all this free stuff, Bernie has offered to tax the evil one-percenters as much as 90 percent of their income. Now, who in their right mind would stay in this country, if 90 percent of their income was being taxed by the government? One reason so many companies are relocating to other countries now is because our corporate tax rate is virtually the highest in the world. Doesn’t common sense tell us that the same thing would be true for the individual?
Bernie has suggested a 10 percent fee on the evil Wall Street speculators. Am I a Wall Street speculator? I have invested in stocks. Are you a Wall Street speculator? Would every purchase be taxed at 10 percent? From my perspective, every stock purchase is speculative. And, why would any of what Bernie is selling need to be paid for? I thought it was free.
I imagine many reading this have had an earnings history similar to mine. When I first started working in the construction industry, I earned $12.50/day. I was probably in the 99.9 percentile. Later, I served in the military and earned $87/month. At that point I can’t imagine my income even qualified to be counted; however, I did get free room and board. Over the next 35 years, I may have, at some point, been a one percenter. I do not know. What I do know, though, is this. At no time was I jealous of someone else’s success. At no time did I ever feel that I was entitled to a share of someone else’s earnings based on the simple fact that they were earning more than I was. Perhaps they were better educated; maybe they worked harder, had better ideas, or were more skilled. Whatever the reason, I never thought, nor could I ever fathom, someone saying I was entitled to a portion of their earnings.
In Bernie’s post-New Hampshire victory speech, he kept alluding to the wealthy;  “When the top one-tenth of 1 percent now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, that’s not fair. It is not fair when the 20 wealthiest people in this country now own more wealth than the bottom half of American people.”  What in the world does “fairness” have to do with any of this? Is it now shameful or criminal to be wealthy? I say, “Hats off to you who are successful and wealthy, and congratulations.”  Hopefully, many more achieve that same success. Isn’t that what most everyone is striving for? Isn’t that what this country offers? The opportunity to follow your dreams, work hard and be successful? And in some cases successful beyond the wildest of dreams. Bernie Sanders wants to redistribute that money. How can anyone justify that?