Letters to the editor
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Current tax policy is bankrupting the nation
Do you remember the government surplus we had during the Clinton years? I do. So what happened?
There is a big plan in play to basically bankrupt our government by giving major tax breaks to the top, leaving the government without funds to meet the basic needs of those at the bottom. Why?
You see it being played out in Wisconsin. The plan is to destroy the "union," which is the only way the worker has to represent his or her concerns to the company.
Therefore, by involving the United States in two unfunded and unnecessary wars we have erased the Clinton-era surplus. Now, the effort is under way to shift the burden of this debt onto those with limited resources all while we allow the top 1 percent to skate by paying less than their fair share and give unfair tax advantage to corporations.
The burden of this debt must be paid by those who have the means. The debt has nothing to do with Social Security or Medicare, but everything to do with tax codes. Millionaires agreed to the Obama plan not to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for them, yet Republicans in Congress passed such an extension.
JAMES STEPHENSON
Oakland
Start at the top
The middle class certainly understands that we are in a budget difficulty, both at the federal and state levels. My problem is that the currently proposed methods being advocated to balance the budgets have been exclusively leveled at the middle- and lower-class citizens. Why do we start with lowering heating assistance, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, WIC and health care? Let's start at the top first.
All legislators should have to pay 50 percent of their medical insurance. Perhaps the citizens who employ the legislators should get the same medical program the legislators think they are entitled to have.
There should be no more per diems or mileage. They ran for the jobs. No one ever paid me mileage to get to work. They too can learn to take public transportation.
The average salary in their districts should determine their salaries. No exceptions for leadership positions should exist. They might then see how difficult it is to live with continued increases in utilities, food, gasoline, etc.
Finally, if legislators are really serious about how to cut expenses without harming the middle class, let the common citizen examine the budget and line-item delete those programs that they believe are wasteful. I'll bet some senior citizens and common moms would do a wonderful job, maybe without compensation.
First Published February 24, 2011 12:00 am
