Percentages.

Editor,

A self-identified conservative argued to me recently that rich people pay such-and-such a percentage of the taxes in this country, and that percentage is big. This may be true, but if the total revenue collected by the government is less than what it costs to provide essential services to a nation of 300 million people, that percentage doesn't matter. Fifty percent of not enough, ninety percent of not enough, means the revenue collected is not enough. Why is this so hard for conservatives to understand?

Re: "Budget Battles: Tax and Spending Myths and Realities" (4/13/2011)