Entitlement is so applicable to all of us. Entitlement is a feeling, it is pervasive, and not just regarding taxes, it touches all aspects of life.

We feel entitled to our parent’s love, we feel entitled to have a good life, a good education and someday a good family.

It is only after we grow up, that we learn that nothing is free or easy, that even love needs to be earned, except for a mother’s love, of course. (She earned the right to love unreservedly, by bearing and rearing us.)

We are so enthralled with the rich 1 percent that we all aspire to be one of them, especially with the example of real Horatio Algers: Bill Gates and Mark Funderberg. We even give them tax breaks, even though it means the middle class has to make up the difference, or we must cut social programs. Something has to give, someone has to pay the piper.

Americans feel entitled, due to our forebears paying in blood for our freedoms. Regretfully, entitlements are paid for by someone, and if not shared equably, become a burden for those who do pay.

Are we a third world country that allows the 1 percent that have the freedom to jet set, own multiple homes, cars, boats, etc. to skate free on taxes?

America needs a flat tax, a flat percentage of their income that everyone has to pay. That is the fairest way to tax. Instead we have the rich paying expensive specialists who assist them in not paying taxes, finding loopholes that congress leaves deliberately for themselves and their peers to use. We lose untold billions thanks to the tax evading industry.

In Congress, the price the Republicans are asking for their support is that the rich be included in the new tax bill. We must hold firm and allow the tax breaks for the overburdened middle class to be retained, while eliminating the free ride for the rich. Just return to the Clinton level of taxes, remember how well the country was doing then?

I sometimes feel we are a country ruled by lobbyists; Congress has such a sense of entitlement, that perks, such as vacations, golf weekends and the use of corporate jets are felt to be justifiable perks of the job.

Congress opts itself out of Social Security, yet is charged with the job of rescuing it. Ever wonder why they have no sense of urgency? They have no worries about Medicare or retirement, as they voted themselves guarantees for life, even after serving just one term.

We need to grow up, and stop dreaming of being included in the upper 1 percent, as they will continue having all the freedoms of great wealth, even after paying their fair share. They will still have just as many luxuries.

 

Dave Gebhard lives in Lakeport, Calif.