To the Editor:

Did you know that the middle class is paying more tax money than the rich? Taxes are a payment to the government, paying for schools, insurance, transportation, etc. Statistics show that in 2015, millionaires paid lower tax rates than people earning $40,000. Peculiar isn’t it? The rich aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.

The more money you earn, the more taxes you should pay, right?  Well, that’s not the case. According to a new study by the progressive research organization Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, every state and local tax system, from Alaska to Wyoming, is inherently unfair to the poor. Also, the new report assessing tax data from all 50 states, states that middle- and low-income Americans are facing far higher state and local taxes than the wealthy.

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan’s budget director, introduced the idea of trickle-down economics. Trickle-down economics means that, if we cut taxes on the rich, it will create more jobs, which leads to a better economy. One problem: Trickle-down economics doesn’t work. Wealth doesn't trickle down from rich to the poor, says new research from the International Monetary Fund.

Trickle-down economics, a centerpiece of conservative economic thinking for many decades, failed to deliver its promise of distributing wealth across the economy, a new paper from Harvard University‘s Kennedy School of Government says.

Everyone loves tax cuts! Especially the rich. The rich have had too many tax cuts. According to intelligencesquadus.org, for the top 0.1 percent, the average tax rate has fallen from 51 percent to 26 percent in the last 50 years. Also, The New York Times says that, in 1945, the richest families had to pay a marginal tax rate of more than 90 percent and, in 2007, the top marginal tax rate was 35 percent.

In conclusion, the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes. The lower classes are paying more taxes, trickle-down economics doesn’t work, and the rich have had too many tax cuts. This is out of control. It’s time to wake up!

Meghana Uppala

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Meghana Uppala is a sixth-grader at Farnsworth Middle School.