To the editor:

In the recent presidential campaign, critics of a tax increase for the wealthiest Americans reacted as though the wealthiest among us do not have a responsibility to pay a slightly higher tax rate to benefit the common good. This runs counter to both American history and most faith traditions.

Concern for the common good is a part of our national fabric tracing back to 1620 when a sharing of goods was instituted by the Plymouth Colony.

Concern for the common good is also written into the preamble of the United States Constitution as a call to “promote the general welfare.”

The 16th Amendment enacted in 1913 allowed for a graduated income tax. One of the strongest proponents for a graduated income tax was Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt understood that those who had accumulated more wealth and benefited most from the political and economic system should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those earning much less.

In the Jewish and Christian faith traditions followed by a majority of Americans, there is a prophetic call to help those in need and criticism directed toward those who accumulate wealth and power to the detriment of others.

This belief in a tax cut entitlement for the wealthiest Americans runs counter to the story of Zacchaeus, the wealthy chief tax collector who promised to return half his wealth to the poor and repay fourfold those whom he had defrauded. Zacchaeus’ pledge was made to one of history’s most famous socialists, Jesus of Nazareth, who said in regard to clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and providing shelter to the homeless “… when you do this unto the least of my brothers [sisters] you do this unto me.”

Therefore, it is troubling to hear the claim that somehow it is a destructive policy to ask those in the top 5 percent income bracket — those earning over $250,000 annually — to pay 3 percent more in income taxes to help others while restoring a sense of fairness to the tax code. An increase in the tax rate for those in the top 5 percent would simply correct an earlier unrequested, undeserved, unnecessary and irresponsible tax cut provided the wealthiest among us.

From those whom “much has been given, much is expected.”

Dick Hall

Coupeville