From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

You are right: “The United States needs a more progressive tax system and the government must find a way to help businesses and individuals with out-of-control health care costs.”

Readers might remember our nation’s last major “ideological conflict.” During and after World War II, the top income tax bracket was 91 percent.

Returning to such a system would accomplish both your objectives. It would help pay for health care, education and countless other needs. In addition, it would restrain the obscenely high compensation of many corporate executives and other believers in “greed is good,” and reduce the alarming gap between the haves and the have-nots.

John Glasel
Hoboken, N.J., Dec. 25, 2006
The writer is secretary of Health Care for All/New Jersey.

Note from AnalPhilosopher: Ah yes, the good old days of confiscatory taxation.

Comments

[Kevin Stroup]

Why not pay for medical care yourself, Mr. Glasel? Why not provide for education and retirement on your own? Why are these never considered? I am presently looking for a job, and many of the the interviews I have been on have made me realize that many smaller companies ( 100 people) do not offer any benefits or, at best, they offer very little. It is up to me to negotiate a better deal, or train myself so that I become a more attractive employee and can garner a better deal. One of the reasons that we have "out of control" health care cost is the customer is not the one paying for the service. When you pay for something yourself, you negotiate for a better price. When someone else pays for the service, you demand everything and do not care about the price. In addition, health is something you do have partial control over. What did you eat, do you excercise...? You get the idea. No, Mr. Glasel, the problem we have today is a busybody government that thinks it's purpose is to solve any and all problems, no matter how small those problems may be. This is further compounded by a body politic that wants to be coddled like children. This mode of thinking is absurd, and ultimately, unsustainable for long term societal health.