This is a response to both Blake Hassenmiller and Jamie McAfee and their views on progressive taxation. First off, Hassenmiller, progressive taxation is here to stay. Get over it.

Now for the real meat of this letter. McAfee — taxing the rich is not theft as you so obviously pointed out to us. However, your statement regarding former President George W. Bush’s tax policy is not only ludicrous, but also flat out wrong.

Bush did not sit down with his advisers and say, “I have a great idea: Let’s give a giant tax break to the rich people in this country and see how far we can go.”

When they came up with their ideas for a tax break, it was with economic stimulation in mind. The most likely ideas that they were talking about were what stimulates the economy. How do we get people to spend their money on those things? Well most of us who are evenly remotely informed about “these things” know that the stock and real estate markets (among others) are main contributors to the economic state of this nation. For those who still haven’t quite got it, that means that our national economy depends on investments.

So what did Bush do? He said, “Let’s give tax breaks to anyone who chooses to invest and claims these investments on their tax forms.” Now here’s what happened: The richer (and most likely well informed) people who already had money invested in such things did, in fact, receive a tax break, and the less fortunate people in this country saw that as Bush favoring the rich. However, 30 minutes of research and maybe an hour of leg work would have allowed the poorer people in this country to have the same benefit of the tax breaks.

The idea is this: If people spend a little money on investments, they receive a tax break, giving them more money to reinvest and grow their wealth. Individuals get the opportunity to increase his or her financial assets and the economy gets stimulated.

Everyone is happy. One more thing to think about: the majority of people in this country are not “rich” so why on earth would President Bush want to knowingly anger the majority of people is the country? Oh, and for everyone who wants a few tax breaks in their lives, go out and do some research. There are plenty of legal ways to get a break.

Nate Lincoln is a senior in mechanical engineering.