LABJ FORUM – Taxing the Rich

President Bush has twice made the deepest tax cuts in the nation’s history and critics claim that the couple of hundred dollars going into the pockets of the working class are peanuts compared with the tax breaks the wealthy have received. Meanwhile, voters on March 2 approved Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $15 billion bond measure to finance the state’s enormous debt, and this will likely be followed by program cuts that affect the poor. So the Business Journal asks:

Should the very wealthy be shouldering a larger share of the tax burden?

Earl Yager

President, Chief Financial Officer

Chad Therapeutics Inc.

No. The wealthy already pay a disproportionate share of the taxes and the extent that we try to penalize them more for making money has a harmful effect on the economy overall. I’m a CPA. The tax rates at the highest levels are high enough. We need the government to look for a way to operate more efficiently. It can’t provide everything to everyone. The tax cuts are already having a positive effect. Obviously, we need to pay sufficient taxes for the government to operate. But if we get people who are going to run the programs we really need and cut the ones we don’t, and do it more efficiently, then we’d be collecting enough already.

Chester A. Widom

Senior Principal

WWCOT Architecture

Yes. With a level tax structure, a family of four living on $40,000 a year will be deprived of some of the basic items of a healthy life. Those in the very highest brackets will still be able to afford not only the basic items in their life but all their luxury items as well.

Leron Gubler

President, Chief Executive

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

No. They already are shouldering a disproportionate amount of the tax burden. Also, California has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. If the state is going to balance the budget, it needs to not take actions that will drive business and industry out of the state. Instead, we need to create jobs that will put Americans back on the payroll being productive citizens and paying taxes. At what point do those very wealthy decide to move out of the state. For example, we need to solve the workers’ comp issue. Manufacturing tax credits and incentives for current businesses or new business from out of state would be better.

Amy Zimmerman

President

Zimmerman & Associates Inc.

No. Because I am. And it’s like, not fun. I’m a Republican and I vote Republican. I’d like to be able to decide where my money goes. I give 15 percent of my income to charities, and I also pay a ton of taxes. I’d like to be able to just give more money to charities. It would be nice if we didn’t have to have it all set out for us. I would hope that Schwarzenegger will reduce taxes, and Bush too. But it’s a double-edged sword. You still need to take care of people who are less fortunate. We need streets, educators need to get paid more, we need defense. It’s not easy. We live in a very complex world.

Michael Ziering

President, Chief Executive

Diagnostic Yes. The wealthy use a disproportionate amount of services and rather than cutting back on services I’d rather the wealthy pony up more. In a democracy, people should contribute what they’re able to. I don’t think wealthy people would be hurt if they would have to pay more taxes. That includes me. The tax cuts have a negative impact on our economy. It has increased the deficit and we’re cutting back on critical services.