Locals give two cents on taxes

CLOVIS — One thing nearly as certain as death and taxes is a new effort, with each new presidential administration, to overhaul the existing tax code. The work so far of President Donald Trump is no exception, with details of a new tax framework from his administration and congressional Republicans reported to be released at the end of the month.

Trump indicated in a recent bipartisan gathering that he desired a tax bill that would benefit the middle class and not give any extra gains to the wealthy, according to The New York Times.

Time will tell. Until then, The Eastern New Mexico News sought perspectives from locals as to what individual citizens might do to the tax code if they could call the shots. The variety of perspectives might give confirmation, if nothing else, that the topic of taxes is not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

The question posed to the unsuspecting public in recent days was, “If you ruled the country, what changes if any would you make to our tax system — who pays, how much do they pay and how is the money used?”

• “It should just be a percentage of what you make, for everybody. It makes it equal that way,” said Orris “CJ” Eshelman.

• “I haven’t looked at it too much, but just talking from my own perspective I support a simpler tax plan instead of everything you have to go through at the end of the year. I’m in favor of making it a little simpler and definitely looking at less tax on the middle class,” said Sancho Emery. “I also support eliminating these loopholes that corporations and more wealthy individuals are able to take advantage of.”

• “I definitely feel like taxes are something where the 1 percent should be taxed the most,” said Sasha Mejia, who also lamented loopholes utilized in corporate and wealthy America. “Right now the middle class are getting taxed the most and we get ripped off the most. We end up taking the biggest burden.”

• “I don’t agree that more people in the top (income percentile) should pay more, personally. You can do an adjustable tax plan, but at a certain point it kills the incentive to work harder. If you’re rich and paying the same percentage, you’re still paying more,” said Eastern New Mexico University Student Juaquin Lopez. “I’m not necessarily a libertarian, but I am in favor of less government.”

• “I see some of the arguments but I do think the rich need to pay a little more, and if you make under a certain amount of money I think you should pay nothing at all,” said Shanika Duren. “Some people get half of their paycheck taken out in taxes. I think the rich definitely need to pay their fair share.”

• “In my humble estimation the only fair tax is a sales tax,” said Mike Gray. “Everybody buys stuff. If we had a sales tax on everything with no exemptions, we could do away with all income tax and would still have more money in the coffers than we do now — if the politicians spend it wisely. That’s a big “If,” but that would solve all of our problems.”

• “We should probably tax wealthy people more, because they have more money than most people,” said Leonel Camarena. “Some people can’t really give a lot of money because they don’t have enough money for themselves.”

• “I agree that the 1 percent needs to pay a higher tax. The point of having money is to spend it again,” said ENMU student Clay Enderez, who said he learned recently of the dramatic and growing wage gap in a college sociology class. The income gulf between the nation’s wealthiest and everyone else was comparable to “Mount Everest and rock bottom,” he added.