To the editor: Contributing writer Veronique de Rugy may have a point with her recent op-ed, but she backs it up with sloppy logic (“Taxing the rich won’t get us out of this mess,” March 12).
The first half of the op-ed focuses on progressives such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urging higher federal tax rates and the assertion that this won’t solve problems like the Medicare spending gap. But she supports her point with examples on the state level, specifically Washington, California and Connecticut, maintaining that billionaires will simply relocate to another state to avoid taxes. Of course, billionaires don’t have that option if they’re taxed on the federal level.
Maybe we can’t tax our way out of the troubles we’re in, but that assertion needs to be backed by more credible scholarship than is offered here.
Rick Krizman, Santa Monica