Friday, October 13, 2017

A Letter on Tax Proposals



Senator Cory Booker
359 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Booker,

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen
2306 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3011

Dear Congressman Frelinghuysen,

As a constituent I would like to give my opinion regarding the proposed Tax Plan. Specifically as relates to deductions.

Local Taxes and Real Estate Taxes are by Personal Choice

Despite the high tax burden in New Jersey for both income and real estate taxes, I and many people have made that choice. That is especially so for those in high income brackets for whom this tax is discretionary. If I do not like it I can move. Lower income people do not benefit from this deduction, especially given the proposed increase in the standard deduction. Thus, any elimination of this would not benefit the wealthier but the contrary.

Charitable Deductions Benefit the Wealthy. They are by choice and all too often are Government subsidized ego trips.

Charitable deductions are also discretionary. The new tax proposal allows them. They benefit the wealth. The allow for the pyramids built in the names of donors and via complex tax benefits allow near in write offs while sheltering significant incomes. Now I make substantial donations primarily to cancer research. However I do so anonymously and would continue to do so no matter what the tax situation is. Many however want their names in lights as well and benefitting from this deduction. Thus, charitable deductions benefit the wealthy much more than anyone else. The benefits are both financial and ego building. Ego gratification should not be subsidized by the tax payer. Especially the poorer ones who cannot even afford healthcare.

Medical Expense Deductions Dramatically Burden the Poorer and are Highly Regressive. They are not by choice but are true calamities.

As a result of the ACA I have seen healthcare costs explode for the middle class. Ballooning insurance and exploding deductions. Then along comes a medical crisis and the costs truly explode because none of the plans provide truly catastrophic coverage. People and families suffering a health crises now face a financial crisis. I have seen many family and patients die of this disease and have seen the financial burden that they have had to bear. 

Yes it happens that the new tax proposal will take this away from these poor people while allowing the rich to maintain massive healthcare plans paid for with tax deductible dollars at the corporate level and getting massive deductions for their "charitable" yet ego building deductions. Here the poor are truly underwriting the rich! Frankly this is grossly immoral and reflects in my opinion the total disconnection between the current administrations financial analysts and the real world. Goldman Sachs has not clue how a truck driver lives. A child gets Hodgkin's disease or leukemia and they are driven to bankruptcy. I have seen this again and again. While this is happening the rich and their "donations" go to fine dinners and tell each other how wonderful they are.

Entrepreneurial Capital Gains and Hedge Funds do not Equate

I have spent several decades in venture capital. I have personally started and developed near a dozen companies and have invested in and overseen a total of thirty-five. In all cases I not only took the financial risk but conceived of the idea, structured the company, raised capital, operated the entity and monetized the result. Hedge funds are merely financial intermediaries. The entrepreneur is wedded to their concept and creation, twenty four hours a day. The hedge fund operator may at best attend a board meeting and collect a check. As such the tax code should incent the entrepreneur and tax the hedge fund operator as normal income.

Not only do we have the above problems in the Administration's proposal, but the wealthy would  get the benefit of eliminating the Estate Tax. The poor would see no benefit there, nor would the middle class. The middle class clearly bear the burden of this proposal and those 1% folks get a massive tax cut, paid for by the Middle Class. I feel this to be grossly immoral.

I am asking that you consider my concerns as not just those of a single constituent but reflective of the many who cannot voice what they face. Medical Expense should be inviolate. It is the least that we as a society can do for those in need. The others are by choice. If you keep one, just one, keep the Medical Expense for the millions who will benefit during times of need.