Sarasota News Leader

02/01/2013

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Sarasota News Leader February 1, 2013 OPINION it comes to creating those promised 700,000 jobs, is a 32-year-old lawyer whose only experience in creating jobs is the government positions he has created for himself since graduating from law school. The voters were clearly deceived by Scott in 2010 as borne out by his approval ratings throughout his first term. If he has his way, they will be deceived again next year. But the voters' task in 2014 would be far easier if the real Rick Scott would please stand up ... and this ersatz humanitarian pretending to be our governor would disappear. % Page 70 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Sarasota News Leader welcomes letters to the editor from its readers. Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and include the name, street address and telephone number of the writer. Letters should be emailed to Letters@SarasotaNewsLeader.com, with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Letters actually printed will be selected based on space available, subject matter and other factors. We reserve the right to edit any letters submitted for length, grammar, spelling, etc. All letters submitted become the property of The Sarasota News Leader. UPCOMING CENTENNIAL OF THE RATIFICATION OF THE 16TH AMENDMENT PROMPTS REFLECTIONS ON DEATH AND TAXES By David Staats Columnist COMMENTARY Feb. 3, 2013, marks the centennial of the ratification of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which created the federal income tax. And while taxes, along with death, may be inevitable, most people try to avoid both for as long as possible. A Sarasota friend complained to me recently that his 2013 take-home pay is less than it was in 2012. He earns $43,000 annually, putting him in the top 50 percent of American wage earners. A stalwart Democrat, my friend voted to reelect the president to ensure, among other things, that the rich paid a hefty tax premium on their sizeable incomes. He had expected that his own taxes would decline as the rich shouldered more of the burden. His own tax obligation, he believed, should not have ballooned 18 percent overnight. It is unfair, he said. Unfair or not, most middle class wage earners will pay more in taxes in 2013. According to the non-partisan, Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution's Tax Policy Center, 77

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