I would like to clarify David Slaman's letter dated April 2. Jerry Brown does not simply propose a 13 percent flat tax. Jerry Brown's tax proposal involves a 13 percent income tax with a 13 percent value-added tax. In Pennsylvania, this would effectively result in a 19 percent sales tax on an item purchased by the consumer. Jerry Brown needs the value-added tax to make up for lost tax revenue, and it is the value-added tax that unduly burdens low wage earners.

I encourage Slaman to do his homework more thoroughly and not to misrepresent Brown's platform.