Soap Box

The howls from conservatives in Congress over a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that now requires corporations making $1 billion or more in profits to pay a minimum 15% in corporate income taxes are both predictable and tiresome. The primary objective of these representatives and senators is to manipulate legislation to ensure the corporations that finance their campaigns and pull their puppet strings pay as little tax as possible. In fact, many corporate giants pay no corporate income taxes at all, despite astronomical earnings.

It is time to revive the rallying cry that helped unite the original 13 colonies in their rebellion against British rule back in 1776, but with an ironic twist: No REPRESENTATION without TAXATION!

Just as the colonies had no voice in decisions made in England despite the taxes they paid to the crown, so have we as taxpayers lost our voices in a Congress that operates for the benefit of CEOs and large shareholders.

The benefits large American corporations derive from federal spending priorities, pro-business legislation, foreign policy decisions and tariffs, and research funded by federal agencies and federal programs are enormous, and play vital roles in generating profits for big business. It’s time to deny access to these benefits to corporations who use their disproportionate clout in congress to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Start with the ones screaming like stuck pigs against this legislation. Chances are, they’re the biggest hogs at the trough. – Gregory Moore, Grandview

Calling all heroes

After Trump failed to secure a second presidential term, despite trying to solicit illegal help from Pence and the infamous Jan. 6 insurrection, he moved back to Mara-Loco, otherwise known as Mar-a-Lago. When he did, Trump took all the usual personal stuff, including 15 large boxes filled with top secret stuff. Apparently, the secret stuff was not returned, so after more than a year, the FBI arrived in Florida recently to get the boxes back.

Seems like a long time to retrieve important papers that could have gotten into the wrong hands. Why wasn’t there a White House inspector or two looking inside the boxes before they left in the van for Florida?

I would like to see more intelligence from intelligent officials. Looking back in the early 1990s at the scene in Waco, Texas, when a sexual child predator pastor could have been captured from his typical run of five miles in his short shorts. Instead, the communal compound got out of hand with the feds allowing flames to kill just about all of the brainwashed occupants, including children. Some 40 years later, a bunch of local and federal authorities allowed 77 minutes to pass before taking out an 18-year-old maniac with an assault rifle that shot two teachers and several fourth-graders in Texas.

Many more horrible acts have happened where sound minds could have come to the rescue. We need more real heroes, not just on the big silver screen. Get it together. – Sally Florence, Durango

Let them ring

The whistle of the train, the laughter of playing children, the farmers market in the summer and fall, and the County Courthouse bells are just some of the things that unify us as a community, making Durango a unique, wonderful place to live.

Living downtown, I really miss hearing the bells from the County Courthouse through the night and day. Having read in The Durango Herald last month that they have been silenced because of a few complaints makes me sad. It is akin to those folks who move to town saying they “love Durango” knowing about the historic train runs multiple times per day, and then crying out for the charming blast of the train whistle to be quieted because it bothers them. Or people that move next to an airport, and then complain about the noise.

Almost every city, town and village in Europe enjoys bells to mark the passage of time each day. Having that same music in Durango has always given me comfort knowing that not only am I home, but also that we as a community are connected to the bigger world out there.

Please bring back the bells, and let at least one of our town’s traditional, charming characteristics remain. – Michael Peterson, Durango

Regrets

They linger in the shadow of memory. They’re the could’ve, should’ve, would’ve events that have long passed. They are the quiet waters, meandering under the bridges of yesteryear, or trickling over the dam of forgetfulness. Only liars and fools say they have none as they ponder their own, personal might have been!

– Burt Baldwin, Ignacio