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The Wednesday, September 9, 2026 edition of the Alpena News contained a guest column by Kathy Pelleran-Mahoney titled 'Honor Work, not wealth' in which she slammed the wealthy, the corporate world, tax rates, and capital gains from investments.
The short bio at the end of the article identifies her as someone who retired after a five-decade career in public service. In other words, taxpayers supported her for 50 years.
She doesn't like the wealthy or corporate tax rules. She doesn't acknowledge that corporate taxes are largely paid by consumers. Taxes supply the slush funds that politicians use to bribe us. The taxes paid are filtered through government bureaucracies that take their cuts off the top and then turn around and tell us how good a job they are doing when returning some of it. That's also why the fraud in government is out of control. They spread the tax dollars around that we paid one way or another with barely any thought to oversight or worthiness.
She rips the wealthy for their investments lamenting the capital gains that "go untaxed for years". Does she realize that investment capital is being plowed back into corporations and businesses to grow them? Without investment we don't have jobs. Except maybe in the government and 'public service' sectors. The wealthy pay the bulk of taxes in this country with the lower tier earners paying little to no taxes. Sure, I would like to be wealthy too. But I also realize that my career was supported by investment and my retirement is supported by the investments I made in mutual funds and IRAs. Without those returns (capital gains!) my retirement and that of other retirees would be dismal indeed.
Mike Leow
Rogers City