1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

I recently read from the New York Times that the national debt has surpassed the U.S.’s total economic output. I find this a concerning state for our country to be in, and I am not happy about it. Spending in specific areas needs to be reined in to mitigate this. I don’t want our country to go further in debt by spending money we don’t have on war in Iran, building warehouses designed to imprison people without regard for their constitutional rights, and I really don’t want any taxpayer money to pay for the asinine over-the-top ballroom for wannabe-king Trump. I expect you, my representatives, to fight against spending that is beyond frivolous (the ballroom) as well as criminal (the warehouses/concentration camps). I also expect you to do whatever you can to tax the rich and make them pay their fair share. We have to bring in more revenue to manage this debt, but it’s not right to further tax the people who are just trying to put food on the table and pay their rent. Those with more money than they could spend in a lifetime need to contribute. We know trickle-down economics doesn’t trickle down—the money just stays at the top. The government is supposed to create laws that protect against the human instinct for greed to make a more equitable society for all. Billionaires use the same roads, bridges, and hospitals that everyone else does. They benefit from the same medical and public health research as everyone else does. And they should have to contribute to the infrastructure and institutions that we all need and use. It’s wrong for a public school teacher or an entry-level engineer to pay more taxes than Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Please do everything you can to make the rich contribute via taxation to lower the country’s debt.