Can a river flow upstream?

I've mentioned this before, but this idea that wealth flows upward is absurd! In a letter to the editor, Stephen Brueckner finds Republicans hypocritical for opposing Obama's redistribution of the wealth policies. He states, ". . .Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush reduced the taxes on the rich and redistributed the wealth upward while creating huge deficits."

First of all, the huge deficits were not created by tax cuts -- they were created by profligate spending. Second of all, reducing taxes on higher incomes does not adversely affect what lower income groups pay in taxes unless their rate is raised accordingly. Neither Reagan nor Bush did that. Third of all, reducing taxes on higher incomes has been proven over and over to actually increase the amount of revenue the government takes in. When people have more money in their pockets, they invest more, thus providing more jobs to more people who will then also be contributors to the government coffers. Fourth and maybe most important of all, "wealth" does not violate the laws of gravity. The low income earner does not support his employer. The employer supports the earner by providing him a wage for services rendered. The low income earner provides jobs only in the sense that he takes the money he earns (because someone "wealthy" was allowed to keep enough of his own money to invest it in a business) and spends it on his needs and wants. When he does that, he provides the kind of stimulus package that works! Take away the money his employer has, and his employer may have to cut his job along with others, then he'll be a drain on society rather than a contributor to it.

No, Mr. Brueckner, wealth does NOT flow up!

"Tax aims for class equality." The Dallas Morning News; March 9, 2009; p. 14A.