WEALTHY: Pay fair share of taxes

There are some millionaires with fortunes made on Wall Street who might like to know that they have a friend in Idaho... or a friend anywhere, for that matter. In Idaho his name is Phil Membury.

Mr. Membury wrote a letter, printed in The Press Oct. 6, in which he had some unfriendly things to say about liberals. He was also a bit worked up fearing that "... the rich are to be penalized for being rich..." supposedly by the IRS.

If he's at all open to other viewpoints and those of experts in particular, Mr. Membury might take time to Google: "Buffett: Tax cuts for all but the rich." It's a short video clip of an interview with - who else - Warren Buffet.

Obviously, the rich should not be penalized for being rich. But they should pay their taxes, as a social obligation, an obligation that we all share. Believe it or not, the levying of taxes is based to some extent on moral principles; how those revenues are spent is, of course, a different issue, entirely. But the gap we have right now between the wealthiest Americans and our working classes is not only immoral, it's almost certainly unsustainable.

Our fourth president, James Madison, actually predicted a time "...when our Republic will be an impossibility... because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few." Laws, he added, will have to be readjusted for those changed conditions.

Readjusted laws? Sounds like President Madison may have been talking about redistribution of wealth. Imagine that! His crystal ball must have had a liberal lean to it.

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