Confessions of a "rich" businessman.(Enterprising: business as an act of creation)

John Kerry wants to repeal tax cuts for upper income Americans. Now there's a surprise: a Democratic Presidential candidate attacks the rich. But who are "the rich"? Well, as Democratic politicians define the "fortunate few at the top of society" my wife and I are, or close to it.

We're only recognized as rich quadrennially, of course--when campaigns are in full swing. But even if we make the cut solely during election times, it's fun being rich. Wintering in Aspen, summering in Nantucket, luxury cars, fancy prep schools and Ivy League colleges, hobnobbing with movie starlets and marrying heiresses, I'm living large. Oops! No, that's John Kerry's life. Come to think of it, I drive a Ford Taurus, my kids have all gone to public schools, and my vacations usually involve economy motels and breakfast at McDonald's.

Here are the straight facts on my rich household: My wife and I receive income from two small businesses that keep us working literally dawn to dusk, including many weekends. This is not unusual: 85 percent of small businesses pay their taxes on the individual tax return of their sole proprietor.

In 2002, we had a taxable income of $114,175, some $23,000 less than in 2001. Business reverses explain part of the decline; the rest is from increased depreciation allowances in the Bush tax cut. We paid $11,245 in income taxes in 2002, and $13,294 in Social Security and Medicare taxes.

If our Social Security taxes seem higher than you'd expect, that's because we pay at the self-employed rate, which is 12.4 percent until we reach the maximum taxable level. Howard Dean wanted to levy Social Security taxes on all income--which would have meant about a $5,000 tax increase for my family. The "I Have a Scream" speech was greatly appreciated at our house.

Because I received a substantial tax cut when President Bush's reforms went into effect, I must be rich. And John Kerry will certainly have to increase my taxes to fulfill his promises. Families earning over $200,000, whom Kerry has particularly targeted in his tax plan, make up just 1 percent of all taxpayers, and they already pay 43 percent of all income taxes. They simply cannot finance Kerry's entire budget, as much as he would like them to. Plus, well over half of the taxpayers Kerry has targeted for tax increases had business income. He'll be raising taxes on small businesspeople in particular, and that includes my wife and me.

The figures I've shared so far don't really even capture the effect that taxes have on our business, and our lives. In 2002, we deducted $77,214 in depreciation as a business expense; a figure greatly increased by some temporary provisions in the Bush tax cuts. But we spent some $120,368 on capital improvements. Our business is growing--we've just added family members to the enterprise, and will need to generate more sales as a result, so we're expanding. Plus our truck wore out.