The letter-writer who wrote about not being able to buy clothes made in the U.S. is destined to see this trend continue ["It sure is hard to buy American goods!" Aug. 28].
It's difficult to buy American consumer electronics or things made with domestic steel. Two of our three major auto manufacturers are or have recently been in bankruptcy.
The income tax, with the second highest corporate taxes on the planet, has been sabotaging America for more than 50 years. Textiles were the first to succumb, thus the letter-writer's lament.
Warren Buffett is now predicting a banana republic future unless Congress stops spending, but Congress can't stop since most of the spending is not only necessary but needs to increase.
We need more roads, more health care, more space exploration, etc.
The IRS Web site reports that 142 million out of about 310 million people here paid income taxes. That's less than half.
People sitting on a pile
The same Web site also highlights its agency's own inefficiency by estimating that if everyone paid all their taxes without underreporting or hiding, then the rest of us would experience a 32 percent tax decrease.
It's clear that the income tax is a corrosive anachronism, an insufficient and harmful tool.
More industries will leave the U.S. unless we change. Boeing teeters on the brink. If their 787 "Dreamliner" fails, so do they, but their most recent of many delays is from wrinkles in the surfaces of composite materials manufactured in Italy.
Repeal the income tax. Institute a consumption tax. The "Fair Tax" is no longer
David P. Head
King George