Proof That Tax Reform Works
Dear Editor,
This letter is to respectfully take issue with the News & Record’s Nov. 10 editorial about tax reform.
In this editorial, the News & Record claimed that tax reform will increase the national deficit. They referenced the often-cited but much-disputed figure that tax reform will add $1.5 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.
The problems is that this figure does not account for economic growth. When we implemented tax reform in North Carolina, our detractors claimed that it would increase our deficit and result in budget shortfalls. But those predictions were wrong.
Our state’s economy has grown steadily since implementing tax reform. We have turned budget deficits into surpluses, including a surplus of over $500 million this year. Jobs are being created, the unemployment rate is down and our GDP is strong.
We cannot tax ourselves to prosperity. Reforming our nation’s tax code is a necessary and logical effort. We need to unleash the potential of private enterprise across America, which will create jobs and generate tax revenue through a stronger economy.
We don’t need more taxes. We need more jobs and more opportunity. If tax reform worked for North Carolina, it will work for our nation as a whole.
Rep. Jon Hardister
NC House Majority Whip
Go With Hope
Dear Editor,
As we journey though life, most of us look for guides and helps with the goal to do our best to serve others. Here is some pointed direction from a recent worship service at Guilford Park Presbyterian Church:
Because the world is poor and starving, go with bread.
Because the world is filled with fear, go with courage.
Because the world is in despair, go with hope.
Because the world is living lies, go with truth.
Because the world is filled with sorrow and pain, go with joy.
Because the world is weary of war and strife, go with peace.
Because the world is seldom fair, go with justice.
Because the world is far too judgmental, go with mercy.
Because the world will die without it, go with love.
Bob Kollar
Convenient Timing
Dear Editor,
So the political party that gave us the Chappaquiddick kid, Slick Willie, Carlos Danger and Love Client No. 9 expects us to believe newborn fabrications against a populist conservative in the mold of Donald Trump, as he leads in his race to become US senator from Alabama.
What fantastic timing. The allegations are four decades old and cannot now be verified or disproved, as the accusers know full well. The star of the show is a 53-year-old woman who’s been divorced three times, works in a loan shark shop and has ‘a messy financial history. (I guess that means she’s a deadbeat of some kind).
Well, when you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park you can get some women to say anything, right?
Austin Morris
Supply Side Baloney
Dear Editor,
Supply side or trickle down taxation does not work. It does not promote economic growth. Rather it cuts benefits to folks like me, enhances the rich and increases money stored offshore. Many studies by numerous economists prove this point. Yet Republicans return again and again to this failed proposition. Just look at Kansas where, in 2012, Republicans drastically cut taxes to business and the rich, and for the next five years watched their economy sink. Or look at the years under Reagan and Bush I, when the US economy dragged until Bill Clinton was elected and the economy boomed.
The tax bill under consideration now is simply more of the same supply side baloney that has failed every time it was tried. If the president and Republican Congress want real economic growth, give a true tax break to us in the middle class, then fix the healthcare system by allowing Medicare to get bids on drugs. Stop listening to the Koch brothers, Robert Mercer and Sheldon Adelson and listen to the voices of millions of us who oppose the current bill.
James Bennett
Editor’s Note: Or you could look at North Carolina, where Republicans cut taxes and the economy started growing. Instead of the deficits left by the Democrats, the state now has surpluses.
Possibly Maybe Investigating Clintons
Dear Editor,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced he is looking into the possibility of asking for a special counsel to be appointed to investigate if charges should be brought in the Uranium One affair.
Is that vague enough for everyone or can we add a few more “maybes” and “possiblys” to the statement to make sure we get the point across that he really hasn’t made up his mind yet.
When you compare what they have on the Hildabeast with Uranium One, the Fusion GPS faux dossier, and the information reveled in Donna Brazile’s book to what they used to open the investigation on supposed collusion (by the way, where is the specific law or statute that says collusion is illegal?), you have to wonder if President Trump made the right selection in appointing Jeff Sessions attorney general. Add to the fact that they allowed way too many Dear Leader holdovers to remain in high places. That pool needs a drop of chlorine in a major way.
But if (and it’s a big if at this point) the special counsel goes forward, it’s going to be a very telling tale. With Brazile’s book outlining how the Clinton crime family took over and manipulated the Democratic National Committee, most people think it will be devastating; but don’t underestimate how well they have learned from the Mafia how to run their empire. Too many people around them have experienced “accidents” or have suddenly developed amnesia after initially coming forward with information. But that being said, it’s all going to come down to what the investigators find, how deep they dig and how hard they press their sources. If they give this the same level of proctologist’s examination they have given the Trump investigation there will be no way short of mass disappearances for Hillary, at least, to go to jail. I don’t know they will get enough to send Bill as well, but then he might see this as an opportunity to get her out of the way so he can really party hard.
And what of the Fusion GPS “dossier”? This could prove to be a ticking time bomb for the Russian investigation. If the government case was initiated by this, and it’s shown to be the manufactured evidence it appears to be, then whole investigation could fall apart.
And what about the FBI’s part in all this?
Go Galt and save the republic.
Alan Marshall
Rabies Threat
Dear Editor,
In North Carolina, if you find an orphaned or injured baby raccoon, you must leave it to die. You may not help in any way. No one can. The Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) requires you to “let nature take its course” because they may have rabies.
Next month, the WRC will conclude taking comments from the public on an extensive list of proposed changes about how rehabilitators can help wildlife. One of the proposals is to add three more animals to this do-not-touch list.
One of the biggest proposed changes will be to add groundhog, bobcat and beaver to the list of animals we already can’t help. We have never been able to assist raccoon, bat, skunk, coyote or adult deer, but there are no regulations forbidding you to assist feral kittens or cows; our research shows you may run a risk of rabies from them as well. So, if you are as concerned as we are, please ask questions and speak up. There are only a few weeks left to do so.
Meanwhile, for the schools, libraries and television stations that have hosted our educational groundhogs, Hansel and Gretel, this fight is for them, in Gretel’s memory.
Melissa Coe
President, Piedmont Wildlife Rehab
Getting Hot on Earth
Dear Editor,
Global warming is not lurking somewhere in the distant future. It is already beginning to impact the regularity of seasons, the fury of storms, fires, droughts, daily temperatures, trees, bees, birds, mountains, snow. Dependable, age-old cycles are in disarray.
Every nation in the world, except for the USA, has signed the Paris climate agreement. This means that we stand alone in failing to grasp the urgency of stopping global warming.
President Trump seems to regard climate decisions as business deals, but they are not. Global warming affects every nation and every living thing on earth.
We must pour our efforts into stopping global warming. This issue is far more important than taxes, health care, gay marriage, the NFL or anything else.
Maureen Parker
Election Observations
Dear Editor,
Well the 2017 City Council election is over and I was not shocked by the number of voters. The truth is people are lazy and I hope we get a tax hike with increased spending. I was told by many conservatives/Republicans they stayed home because they had no race. How stupid can you be for real, I say. The voter not coming out to vote is half a vote for the other candidate because they don’t get a vote cast against them. The nail in the coffin for Tony and Mike was that they had no conservatives running and if they had John Brown in the mayor’s race then voting would of been up for conservatives but again low voting in primary sealed that. I am tired of voting myself because it seems to be a lost cause and the city has shifted way to the left that it will soon tip over. The nation blames Trump for everything but forgets the years of Obama and Clinton self-serving. This nation is funny and I am glad I am more that halfway done with my life so I don’t have to see the fall of this country into a liberal, criminal, addict loving nation. And for those that curse me, well let me say in advance I don’t care.
Sal Leone
When Times are Good, All Benefit
Dear Editor,
When were we ever better off by following the party line than the reality of what was actually accomplished under their leadership?
For example, times were very good under Bill Clintons’ leadership but he had our high tech supremacy to rely on, and now the conjecture of his being called a great leader is questioned. Under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, times were far less attractive and their decisions are not gaining any cheers for their leadership, as yet.
Politics aside, this could change but the one thing George W. did that stands as a negative was lowering taxes when they should have been raised. It did not benefit the average household and the rich became richer as the poor became poorer.
This same trend, as of today, is following Obama. They left us no better off. Donald Trump may not be popular, but separate economic pocketbook things are already swinging upwards for most people. If this trend continues, he should rise above Clinton.
But who knows, the pendulum can swing back just as fast as it has forward. The point being, when our economy is good, all of us usually benefit. So, like him or lump him, if our people are better off he will turn out to be the better leader. So let’s forget politics and go with this reality. One thing is certain, or is it two? Death and taxes. And if we dance, we must pay the fiddler.
Ray Hylton
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