Progressive tax isn't fair

I was shocked, simply shocked, that the Deseret News actually opposed a tax increase: the "restoration" of sales tax on food. I was about to revise my opinion of the paper (it has never met a tax increase it did not like). However, a closer look shows that the Deseret News has applied a false "fairness" standard, opposing sales tax on food only because of its impact on the poor and not because Utah taxpayers are sick and tired of all levels of government reaching into their pockets.

Fairness occurs when all are treated the same. When one group of people pays less than another group for the same products (in this case, government services), that is factually unfair. Please stop the Orwellian twisting of our language; a progressive tax code is not a fair tax code.

Loren Minert

Salt Lake City