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Letter: Americans are in a downward spiral

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Williams Arena in Greenville, N.C., Wednesday, July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Willie Dickerson’s July 11 letter to The Public Forum, “Some of us still stand up for democracy,” hit a nerve.

Right now the richest 1% of American households own more wealth than the bottom 90% of families.

Almost 40 percent of total campaign contributions in the 2018 midterms came from people who donated $10,000 or more. But these donors make up just 0.01 percent of the U.S. population. And they do influence major decisions made in Congress.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included the largest one-time reduction in corporate income tax in U.S. history. The richest 1% of households (making $1.8 million per year) will receive an average tax cut of about $47,000, while those with the lowest income ($13,000 per year) will get an average of $90.

Yet Trump’s FY2020 tax proposal is to cut $1 trillion (!!!) from education, affordable housing, nutrition assistance, etc., over a 10-year period.

This is a spiral downward. We must speak up to our members of Congress and tell them to consider the needs of working families in the FY2020 tax legislation.

Donna Munro, Bremerton, Wash.

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