Increasing taxes on the ultra wealthy...
TO: President Barack Obama
July 20, 2011 

Subject:  Necessity of increasing taxes on ultra wealthy individuals: If low taxes are good, why has the 21st century been so disastrous for the country as a whole while simultaneously spawning a new class of multi-billionaires? 

Dear Mr. President, 

As a lifetime Republican millionaire at age 76, I urge that you not depart from your commitment to increase taxes on the ultra wealthy to levels approaching historic norms. 

Who are Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Geoff Yang, and Mark Zuckerberg? They are a group of young men hardly out of their tennis shoes that have made excessive fortunes on the Internet that was built by the United States Defense Department with hard earned American tax dollars at a time when they were in grade school. 

The social importance of taxing these individuals at a higher rate might exceed that of the current economic imperative. It would take only a few percent of their wealth to buy out the entire personal assets of the U. S. Congress (541 members), the Supreme Court Justices, Federal Reserve Chairman and the President. Their wealth makes them capable of giving this entire group an extended employment contract of a million dollars each a year without even making a significant dent in their net worth. This is power- power that exceeds that of the federal government- if they choose to use it. 

The Internet, our wonderful highway system, the space shuttle and NASA technology, which we can no longer maintain, were developed by the government during a period when high income individuals were taxed at a rate of 70-90%. Increasing taxes on the wealthy, whose fortunes are products of technology funded by government tax dollars, is consistent with the norm over the last half of the 20th century that has made this country great. These funds should only be used to return the nation to solvency and allow the government to fund projects worthy of the 21st century. 

Charles E. Reier MD

Greenville Ohio