THE CONWAY DAILY SUN, Thursday, July 7, 2011— Page 7
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– LETTERS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
It is the middle class that makes business possible To the editor: As the deficit ceiling debate rages in Congress, I see some pretty simple solutions. First some history: In 2001 President Bush took us to war. In the past the president would speak on the radio or TV and call for shared sacrifice and belt tightening for all Americans so we can pay for the war. Instead President Bush first told us that the wars would be very short, and would be paid for with Iraqi oil revenue. Then the Republican Party called for tax cuts. They waxed eloquently about how the tax cuts would put more money in the pockets of entrepreneurs and they would then invest this money in new business. The economy would grow, and the increased revenues would result in even more money for the U.S. Treasury. Wouldn’t that have been grand! Instead we entered in to what has become the longest war in U.S. history. The tax cuts failed to stimulate economic growth. The economy crashed. Two major groups of people are paying for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: First the families of all the dead, wounded, and PTSD suffering soldiers, paid dearly. Second, our grandchildren will be burdened with paying off the borrowed funds used to pay for these wars. Personally, I find this unconscionable. Going to war and not paying for it is among the worst things government has done in my lifetime. If you take the entire deficit and then compare it to three factors, you will find an equal balance sheet. The first factor is the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second is the amount of revenue being lost due to the 2001 tax cuts, and the third is the revenue lost due to the economic downturn. So, my solution to the deficit is this: End the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Restore tax levels to where they were in 2001. And last, cut government spending commensurate to the revenue lost due to economic downturn. This solution doesn’t even have to touch Medicare or Social Security. They each need some fixing, but clearly they do not need to be eliminated or cut way back. As I recall, life was just fine in the year 2000. Going back to that level of taxation would be fine with me. Social Security also has a simple fix. The problem with Social Security is that there are too many people retiring and not enough young people paying
in. We should create legal immigration opportunities for young people who want to work here. This would be a winwin for all. We could lessen problems with illegal immigration, we would get more taxes being paid, and the demographics for a successful Social Security program would be restored. It is time to turn the tide and bring manufacturing back to the USA. I get really mad when Republicans suggest that the only way to solve the deficit is to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. This is a horrible idea, and clearly the worst way we could solve the deficit problem. Most people I know, like and depend on those two programs to sustain them through their elderly experience. Eliminating these would make our country a horrible squalid place. The toughest problem we face as a society is the rising cost of health care. Health care is approaching 20 percent of our entire GDP. Many other industrialized nations provide universal health care to all their residents, and do so for around half the cost of what we spend here in the United States. These countries also have longer life expectancies. If we were to institute such programs, we would be cutting out about $1 in every $10 we now spend on everything. The catch is that the people who have been pocketing that dollar are very wealthy, and have a very high stake in keeping those dollars flowing right in to their pockets. These are the people who warned us about death panels and yell and scream on and on about Obamacare. They are doing a very good job scaring the public away from supporting the kind of changes that could cut our costs in half. I see little light at the end of this tunnel. Congress has been passing legislation that has concentrated wealth. The top 1 percent of Americans have more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. It wasn’t always this way. There is a huge problem with this trend. We are losing the middle class. States, including ours, are drastically cutting subsidies for college education. There is a huge problem with this trend. Without a strong middle class, there is nobody to buy all the goods. It is the middle class that makes business possible. Once there are only rich and poor, who will buy stuff? Who will be able to come ski? Bert Weiss Chatham
We agree with Andrzejewski about rec. program policy To the editor: We just read the letter from Lisa Andrzejewski about the “policy” of not opening the recreation program to children of “non-residents.” I always wondered why the people of this town who pay the same taxes as we do are considered non-residents for purposes that the selectmen chose. In fact, who makes that policy decision? Where is it written? Yes, they cannot vote here because their primary residences are somewhere else. In the letter, it states that Mr. Sires “indicated that towns are able to set whatever policies they chose.” As a former selectman, I agree. But the policy in this case seems to be misguided. In this case the term property owner/taxpayer would be more appro-
priate. If the individual pays property taxes which support the town, it is irrelevant whether they live here 365 days a year, summers, or just an occasional weekend. Also, the recreation program is not free. People buy homes here because North Conway is a great town and the recreation venues for families is exceptional. Why turn away children of taxpaying families who choose to live within this community for whatever purpose, being recreation or just a great place to enjoy relaxing in! We agree with Lisa Andrzejewski and “urge the town to reconsider this policy.” Dick Vitale Sue Vitale North Conway