To the Journal editor:

One has to feel the pain of financial burden currently being placed on main-street small businesses, restaurants, bars, gyms, and, most of all, their employees.

There also must be a huge strain being placed on state unemployment agencies, as they try to meet the increase in jobless claims. It is during times such as these that even the staunchest advocate for small government welcomes federal support, direction, and intervention.

Fresh in my mind, however, are the corporate tax windfalls of just two years ago.

On Jan. 16, an article in Bloomberg Business News (Bloomberg.com/news) noted that Donald Trump’s corporate tax cuts enabled the top six U.S. banks to reach record profits, with a net income of $120 billion for 2019.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (bts.gov), along with the International Air Transport Association (iata.org), listed North American Airline Industry net profits at $15.5 billion for 2017, $11.8 billion for 2018, and $16.6 billion for 2019.

Under Donald Trump’s tax cuts, individual corporations, flush with cash, bought back billions of their own stock. This is while our national revenue suffered, and the national debt reached an all-time high of $22 trillion.

If we had a 28% corporate tax rate, rather than the current 21% (it used to be 35%); if we had kept our top income tax bracket rate at 39.6% for those making more than $400,000, rather than the current 37% for those making more than $500,000.

If we had not reduced national revenue through unreasonable tax cuts, and instead paid down our national debt when able, we would be in much better financial condition to weather this current economic crisis.

Instead, our grandchildren will inherit a national debt that just bumped up another $2 trillion.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s platform best matches these concepts According to a March 5 article by the Tax Policy Center (taxpolicycenter.org), former Vice President Biden’s proposals would create an additional $4 trillion in national revenue over a 10-year period.

A prudent household saves more when they make more. I followed that path for my entire working life. As a nation, we would be in much better financial shape to respond to this current economic crisis, if we had followed this advice. These times will pass, but let us not make the same mistake for the next, inevitable economic crisis.

This November, the choice will be yours.