Letter to the Editor: Pay Your Taxes if You Owe Them
By Dan Murphy
Westchester County Legislator David Tubiolo’s support for President Biden’s $10,000 loan forgiveness plan shows how divided residents of Westchester, and voters across the country are on the issue. (See story above; Congressional candidate Mike Lawler is opposed).
Tubiolo writes, “I celebrate the action taken by the Federal Government to reduce the liability on millions of hard working Americans. I paid off my student loans before this forgiveness initiative. but I experienced first hand the sacrifices I had to make for a decade to overcome high interest rates and what seemed like never ending payments. We were made to believe this was the only way to achieve social mobility, but this deprived many of us from economic opportunities our previous generation enjoyed, like buying homes at a younger age.
“This is the bailout working class millennials (and their parents) desperately needed, and I think this will stimulate the economy and save a generation. We really need to talk about how we can control the cost of higher education, and also invest in more Career Technical Education like BOCES so adolescents and young adults are more aware of their opportunites. Average college tuition tripled in my lifetime, even when adjusted for inflation. Developing a career and getting started in life shouldn’t put us at the high risk of bankruptcy,” writes Tubiolo, whose social media account was filled with supporters and opponents of the bailout.
Another topic of interest for our readers in Westchester is the recent hiring of 87,000 additional employees in the IRS. Opposition to the plan comes from the thought that armed IRS agents will be breaking down your door to collect your upaid taxes.
One of our readers disagrees writing, “Mr. Murphy, I have read with interest your stories about Westchester resident Anthony Futia, and his refusal to pay his income tax based on his view of the constitution. I would separate Mr. Futia, from the many Americans who don’t want the IRS hiring more agents to get any American from paying the taxes that they owe. I pay my taxes every year, and quite frankly I want everyone to do so. It’s only fair. My advice to those who don’t want to pay their taxes is, elect people to change the tax code. And of the 87,000 new IRS employees, they will be replacing the 56,000 IRS employees set to retire,” writes Helen Conger, from Verplank.
