Dear Editor:

When it comes to giving the privileged rich yet another tax break, the red herring argument of its benefit to small business keeps popping up like a bad penny.

Proponents of these tax breaks continue to use this canard because we hold dear the ideal of the mom and pop enterprise. Empirical evidence shows that as few as 10 percent of small businesses are large enough to be affected by tax brackets applied to high income individuals.

But the argument that using tax breaks to help small businesses grow through retained earnings is worth examination. On a micro-economic level, reducing taxes does increase disposable income that can be reinvested. To put it another way; increased disposable income can lead to increased investment in the economy generally. This is true for anybody, not just small businesses..

This means that if ordinary wage earners get a tax break, they might also save and invest. The money wage earners accrue in savings accounts and mutual funds goes to work in the economy in the very same way that retained earnings of small businesses do. The point is that everyone has a hand in investing in the economy.

What is going on here is that tax policy is being used to concentrate wealth and power at the top while the rest of us are left to carry the load. That is why proponents of the tax cutting agenda are always seeking to cut taxes for the top income brackets but do little or nothing for the rest of us. This has the effect of centralizing our economy and is dangerously corrosive to our ideal of self government.

A fairer and more honest approach to reducing taxes to bolster the economy would be to increase the standard deduction. That way we all enjoy an increase in our disposable income; not just the privileged rich. We all deserve a break.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay