Proud to Pay My Taxes

Dear Mr. Trump,

As a candidate for the highest office in the land (and perhaps the world), you proudly call yourself “smart” for NOT paying taxes. Hmmm… I guess that I, as an entrepreneur, must be pretty stupid.

You see, I take great pride in paying my taxes each year. Without the benefit of a loan from my father, I started a business. I started it in 2009 right after the market fell. And guess what, despite the economy, the hours and the competition, I became more successful in the next two years than I had dreamed possible. (I’d be happy to show you my tax records to prove it.)

I remember the day in April 2011, when I, as a company owner, wrote a whopping check to Uncle Sam. I could not have been more proud. I knew that if I were writing a check for such a large sum of money, my total revenues had to be multiples of that number — and I appreciated what a luxury and privilege it was to have grown my business by so much, so fast.

I also knew that I hadn’t done this alone. I had to give at least some of the credit to my secret business partner, Uncle Sam. That’s right: I consider Uncle Sam to be like a business partner to me. And I don’t mind paying my business partner his share of our profits in gratitude for his part in my business’ success. Even if Uncle Sam might use some of my tax dollars in ways I disagree with (or, as you say, “squandered”), I feel proud to support all that he’s doing well. My business depends upon it.

Thanks to my business partner, Uncle Sam, I and my workers get the luxury of clean, safe streets with bright lights and trash removed in our town. Our business partner, Uncle Sam, makes sure to coordinate our traffic lights for safe traffic flow, fills our pot holes as quickly as possible, removes leaves and snow so that my workers and I can get to work on time. When we need to travel, we get to leave from airports (not perfect airports, but certainly well-used and helpful to us) to get to our clients so that we have the chance to deliver the work and make the money we need.

Uncle Sam, my business partner, provides education in our community that gives my business access to smart, local talent that I hire to help me do the work. My growth as a business is further indebted to Uncle Sam for the police who ride by and wave, the firefighters who whiz by in response to fellow citizens in need. And while I’ve not needed these first responders, let me tell you, I sleep better at night knowing that my business partner, Uncle Sam, is there for me, my company and my employees.

There’s so much more I could tell you about why I’m proud to pay taxes, to pay my fair share of the vast infrastructure from Uncle Sam that benefits my business, my workers and me, but you might not be interested. Maybe you think these services — luxuries, really — grew on trees? Or get handed to everybody on a silver spoon? They don’t. These services exist — for your hotels as much as for my consulting practice — because businesses like mine, and people like me, pay taxes to our business partner, Uncle Sam… and we do it with pride. (Again, I have tax returns you are welcome to access.)

So you see, Mr. Trump, not paying taxes isn’t smart; it’s gaming a system. Fortunately for my business (and yours), some of us respect that system of shared resources and civic responsibility. Some of us have integrity in business, even when no one is looking.

But wait: you think you’re smart to NOT pay taxes. Maybe you think taxpayers like me are stupid…?