Here’s the reality of a trickle-down tax plan

Regarding the May 8 column by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. (“Pro-Growth Tax Reform”): Mr. Toomey states, “The Trump administration’s tax plan includes reforms that are just what we need to jumpstart our economy, generate growth and income gains.”

How much would the proposed cuts generate economic growth? Let me put this in personal terms. I am fortunate to be in a comfortable financial position, although not among the 1 percent. I calculate that I could have saved nearly $20,000 had my 2016 taxes been calculated according to the new tax rules (primarily by diverting a portion of my earnings through a personal corporation, and therefore having this income taxed at only 15 percent).

According to the trickledown theory of economics, this money would go to carpenters building me a new vacation home and to factory workers assembling me a new luxury automobile. In truth, though, I would have put away most of this money as part of my retirement savings. The federal government would be taking on more debt to provide for my life as a retiree sometime in the future.

I received an email from Mr. Toomey’s office recently titled “Restoring Fiscal Sanity.” I cannot reconcile his two positions — 1) that increasing the debt limit is irresponsible and 2) that we need to undertake a massive tax cut that favors wealthy individuals and corporations.

I would rather see this money going to programs that truly invest in the future — educating our children, pushing the frontiers of scientific and medical research, preserving our environment — as well as to providing a safety net for those who are less well off. RANDAL E. BRYANT

Point Breeze

Today many schools are reducing or eliminating music in their curriculum, not deeming it as an important part of a child’s education. Last Tuesday, I attended a choral concert given by the Riverview School District in Oakmont. Performing were three choruses — junior/senior high, elementary and Grace Notes (an audition choir), all under the direction of Nathan Hart. All of the pieces were performed by memory, with the exception of afew done by the Grace Notes.

This multicultural performance, aside from the challenging music, which incorporated difficult rhythms and several musical instruments, all played by the students, introduced the audience to music that ran the gamut from 16th-century sacred choral music sung in Latin to spirituals and pieces sung in Arabic, Japanese and Spanish, as well as to beloved familiar pieces sung in English.

To watch these young people, eyes riveted on their director, completely focused — some with smiles, others swaying to the rhythm, totally attuned to the music they were performing — wasa moving experience.

Unfortunately, there were some in attendance who seemed unable to grasp the concept of “multiculturalism,” but that could not take away from the experience. I want to thank those young people, and especially Mr. Hart for the hard work. FRANCES VITTI Stanton Heights

May marks the 100th anniversary of the Selective Service Act of 1917. This is an appropriate time to revisit the issue of military conscription.

One of the greatest threats to the U.S. is its volunteer military. About 1 percent of the population puts itself in harm’s way to protect the other 99 percent. A country that fails to link military service to citizenship is a country in peril. We are such a country.

The last time I checked my birth certificate, there was nothing on it that said because I am an American I would have to go to war to defend someone else’s freedom, especially someone who was perfectly able to defend it himself. This holds true for my father and brother and numerous other extended family members.

Unless and until this country stops trying to save the world, at the expense of its own welfare, every citizen should share the same risk of military service. Ask any Vietnam War vet and he will tell you he rarely met the son of a white-collar father and especially not the son of any member of Congress.

The next time you see someone in uniform, know first that he or she is someone else’s son or daughter, who is , odds on, fighting in place of yours. GREG SKAVINSKI

Bethel Park