What’s ‘just’ and ‘humane’ on taxes
My boyhood hero, Robert Kennedy, used to say that “Jobs are better than welfare.” As a liberal/progressive Democrat, I agree. But I would add that having a job that pays a good and living wage that is well above the federal government’s “official poverty line” is the human right of every American who is willing to lead a responsible and productive life. Therefore, I am proposing that following the November 2018 elections, our president and Congress reverse the 2017 tax cuts and instead spend $1 trillion on a federal government jobs-creation bill that guarantees a job with dignity and respect to all Americans that not only pays well above the official poverty line, but which also pays well above the “near-poverty line” (which is 100 to 125 percent of the official poverty line).
It is the “humane” and “just” thing to do.
Stewart Epstein, Rochester, N.Y.
This story was originally published January 1, 2018 at 10:46 PM with the headline "What’s ‘just’ and ‘humane’ on taxes."