Stealing or spreading the wealth?

To the editor:

In response to Warren Stephens' Wednesday Review-Journal commentary, "A real 'inconvenient truth' (about taxes)":

How dare you publish such an article! How dare you put in print such a lucid, well-defined and informative article regarding the truth behind Sen. Barack Obama's tax plan!! The gall to attempt to interject a bit of sound reasoning and information in response to the myths behind Sen. Obama's tax agenda!

That being said, thank you for giving those of us who take the time to read the op-ed pages the opportunity to see behind the obfuscation, smoke and mirrors of the Obama-Biden campaign. Are there lemmings who will blindly follow this charismatic charlatan, who continues to spout empty rhetoric, often denying the plain truths that churn around him? And will they deign not to read Mr. Stephens commentary because he chose to state: "I am concerned about his policies and their effect on our economy, both in the short and long term"?

Yes, there are. Just read the one-sided letters that fill the editorial pages of the Las Vegas Sun, which accompanies the Review-Journal. Ninety-nine percent of Sun's published letters attest to the fact that their writers have swallowed, hook, line and sinker, the Obama precepts of government from a candidate who has spent, of his six-year term, one year in the Senate and three years running for the presidency. At least Sen. Joe Biden has 36 years of experience.

I sincerely hope that the majority of your readers took the time to read and digest Mr. Stephens' article. And I hope they found it as illuminating and interesting as I did. Keep up the good work.

Hopefully, your readers will open their eyes and their minds as they peruse the fine writings you choose for your editorial pages. And hopefully, they will clear their brains when they vote in November.

George Pucine

LAS VEGAS

Do the math

To the editor:

To paraphrase that old adage, there are three kinds of liars: liars, damned liars and CEOs.

Full disclosure: I am not a president of anything, but I know how to use a calculator.

In his op-ed published in Wednesday's Review-Journal, Stephens Inc. President and CEO Warren Stephens claims that the Barack Obama tax plan, a return to the tax levels of the Clinton years, will stifle investment and discourage capital formation. Mr. Stephens uses 1990, 2000 and 2005 data from the U.S. Treasury to support his assertion.

A quick check of that data reveals some interesting information. In 2006, the most recent year available, the top 1 percent of taxpayers submitted 1,357,192 tax returns representing about $1.792 trillion in adjusted gross income, for an average AGI of $1,320,289 per return. The top 1 percent paid a total of $408.4 billion in taxes, an average of $300,894 per return -- and an average tax rate of 22.79 percent.

In 1990, the average tax rate per return was 23.25 percent for the top 1 percent of taxpayers. Had the 2006 tax rate been the same as the 1990 rate, the top 1 percent in 2006 would have paid an average of $306,697 in federal income taxes, an increase of $5,803 over the average actually paid. Does Mr. Stephens really propose that an increase of $5,800 in income taxes on an average income of $1,320,289 will have any meaningful effect on investment or capital formation?

Perhaps another CEO might agree, but I suspect most others would not.

Michael Henderson

LAS VEGAS

Unfit to lead

To the editor:

Thank you to Stephens Media principal Warren Stephens for his most timely and informative column in Wednesday's Review-Journal.

I, too, like Barack Obama, but not for president. Mr. Stephens' facts and figures support what many believe: that Sen. Obama will be overwhelmed by the complexities of his campaign promises and lead our country not to an economic recovery, but will exacerbate our problems and lead us toward further economic debacles.

His youth and inexperience, despite his charisma and good intentions, will allow him to be the pawn of experienced advisers and the many highly experienced lobbyists and politicians in Washington. They have backpedaled in this crisis, now supporting the bailout, when before they voiced strong support for institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Case in point: Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Obviously, there is blame for all in this widely dispersed financial meltdown. Nevertheless, in this historic time wherein our government is pursuing socialist policies, we need a leader with experience who is a true peer of those in Washington with nefarious agendas. Sen. John McCain is that man.

Thank you again for your column, Mr. Stephens. I hope it did run in all of your publications, as an uninformed public is a predecessor to the downfall of society.

William Mulholland

LAS VEGAS

Make the rich pay more

To the editor:

I can't tell you how sick I am of rich people crying about how much taxes they pay. At a time when unemployment is going through the roof and millions of Social Security recipients are trying to get by on about $1,000 per month, taxing the rich shouldn't be an overriding issue. The statistics put forth by Warren Stephens in Wednesday's Review-Journal are true, but they don't tell the story.

Top earners pay a big chunk of income taxes, but household income taxes only make up about half of the federal government's revenues. Most of the rest comes from Social Security withholdings. Most wealthy people pay very little to Social Security because the payroll tax doesn't apply to income over $102,000.

In addition, there are loopholes in the tax law that enable the wealthy to claim income as a capital gain and pay a much lower rate on that income.

Last year, the top five private-sector income earners were reported to have earned more than a billion dollars each. The top earner, John Paulson of Paulson & Co., was reported to have earned approximately $4 billion betting against the U.S. housing market. It has also been reported that he took all of this income as a capital gain and paid the much lower capital gains tax rate, even though this was obviously income to Mr. Paulson.

When factoring in payroll and income taxes, the wealthy only pay about 25 percent of the total federal tax revenue, and us working stiffs pay the rest. It should be noted that the top 10 percent of wealthy Americans own about 80 percent of the country's assets.

How much more taxes can the wealthy pay? A whole hell of a lot.

Gerry Hageman

LAS VEGAS