George Bush and the Republican Party, with the aid of fellow Republicans like Harold Lindemann, have been perpetuating myths, shifting blame, and telling half-truths about the record of the Reagan-Bush administration. First of all, for Mr. Lindemann’s information, Bush himself has been campaigning on the claim that he and Reagan have been the champions of the American taxpayer, and that he and Reagan have been the bearers of “across-the-board tax cuts,” not that the Democratic-controlled Congress has instituted tax increases. According to Bush, there have been no tax increases.

The truth is that the Reagan-Bush administration simultaneously built an astronomical budget deficit while also increasing the average citizen’s taxes.

The Kemp-Roth tax cut of 1981 appeared as if it would lower taxes. Inflation, however, pushed people into higher tax brackets at the same time the Reagan-Bush administration devalued the fixed deductions previously important to middle- and lower-income families. The result was the tax burden fell more heavily than before on lower- and middle-income taxpayers. According to a study conducted by the Brookings Institution, the portion of income going to federal taxes between 1980-85 only fell for those in the top fifth of the nation’s income bracket. What caused the touted “tax revenue drop” of the early 80s was a cut in corporate taxes, which obviously did nothing for the average American.

Second, in 1983 Reagan signed the largest tax increase in the history of the nation. The Social Security trust fund package, which increased F.I.C.A. payroll tax is a tax that only applies to middle- and lower-income levels. Salaries over $43,000 as well as all investment income is exempt from F.I.C.A. taxation.

Mr. Lindemann is right. Democrats do say they are for the people. We say we are for ALL the nation’s people, not merely the nation’s rich. The Democratic Party believes we have a responsibility to ensure the greatest good for the greatest number, unlike the Republicans, who believe we should ensure the greatest good for a small, elite sector of our society.

Michelle Parrini

Young Democrats of NIU