Doing something about the deficit
Summer is approaching, and that means that Congress will revisit the issues of the tax code. It's a critical moment; as of May 4, the U.S. national debt was over $15.7 trillion. Keeping that thought in mind, let's think of the government as a business. If this business was in debt and struggling to make ends meet, then wouldn't it want to cut unnecessary spending and raise some more revenue if at all possible?
The Republicans don't bother to raise revenue to alleviate the deficit we have. What they fail to realize is that this hurts the poorest Americans the most. They balk at the idea of raising taxes, even when they're at historic lows. This ties the hands of the poorest Americans and stretches the middle class to the breaking point.
Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, explained at a conference in Washington sponsored by the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project on May 3, "It is a near certainty that we are going to need a significant increase in revenues." As experts like Summers weigh in on this issue, there should be more pressure on the congressional Republicans to actually do something instead of holding the whole situation hostage. As they stubbornly persist, more Americans will have to lose benefits such as Medicare while Congress makes senseless cuts that, as Summers points out, would hurt the economy even more.
Clearly, the Republicans need to back down from their refusal to raise revenues. It's just bad business.
RYAN LAWRENCE
Winston-Salem
American rights
According to news reports, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband Internet access a legal right for every citizen. Beginning July 1, every Finn will have the right to access to a 1 Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection.
Finland's communication minister, Suvi Linden, explained to the BBC, "We consider the role of the Internet in Finns' everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment."
I know some readers, perhaps the more conservative among us, will laugh at such a notion. But it's sobering to think that Finns have more rights than citizens of the U.S., supposedly the most advanced nation in the world.
We should have more rights. We should all have the right to free health care, to a clean environment — if we're the greatest country in the world, our environment should not just be "clean enough," with environmental concerns sacrificed to commerce; it should be pristine — and, like former Vice President Dick Cheney said, "People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."
But conservatives seem to think that we should have fewer rights. No right to same-sex marriage or health care, no access to food or clean water, nothing guaranteed, even though we're the richest country in the world. To them, these rights should be given only to those who can afford them.
The right to make money and carry guns anywhere they want, those are about the only rights they're concerned with.
WENDY MARSHALL
Winston-Salem
Standing up for the Brunstetters
Where do I begin? First, Jodie Brunstetter is not a racist or a bigot. I have known her and Pete for some time, and I know her comments were misconstrued ("Wife denies racial remarks," May 3). Pete and Jodie are very fine Christians, and bigotry is not in their nature. We are blessed to have Pete as our state senator. I know there is a difference of opinion with the opposition, but that does not change who they are.
Second, why is the race card so popular these days? I think it's an easy way to get folks off the issues (by design). The marriage amendment has nothing to do with race, regardless of what some want us to think.
Readers should not let the media think for them, but they should be independent thinkers. Know the facts.
I am very proud to call Pete and Jodie Brunstetter my friends. By the way, I am black. So I guess I am a racist and a bigot, also. Ponder that.
RON LOCKHART
Winston-Salem
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: The debt is a symptom of the underlying problem which is too few are employed at decent paying salaries. With higher employment numbers combined with higher wages, you have more paying into the system and fewer benefits needing to be paid out. Tax increases and spending cuts are not going to be sufficient unless they are done in a draconian manner.
LTE 2: You also have to take into consideration that Finland has a population half the size of NC, whereas the US has over 300M. The telephone has also played an invaluable part in the lives of Americans for the past century, but to my knowledge it has never been a paid by govt service either. I do agree that there is enough money in this country to provide a basic standard of living for every citizen. The policies of the past 30 years, however, has lead the US in the direction of 3rd world countries where 10% of the population controls 90% of the wealth. History has shown that can lead to a volatile conclusion.
LTE 3: Not knowing the Brunstetters, I'll have to take Mr. Lockhart's word. Politeness would most likely prevent Mrs. Brunstetter from uttering any comments similar to the controversial ones associated with her in the presence of someone who is black. The ones who have reported the comments seem to be quite sure of what they heard. Perhaps it just goes to show that Mrs Brunstetter is as inconsistent as the rest of us. I do agree A1 had nothing to do with race. Homophobia perhaps, but not race.
Once again, a single rogue trader has caused massive losses at a bank. After seeing what can happen over the past decade when you allow traders to run amok, I can't for the life understand how a bank like J.P. Morgan could not have checks in place to prevent this from happening.
ReplyDeleteIt's called "greed".
DeleteMy college was one of the first to use computer simulations for learning in poly sci and history classes. At the end of each year, we simulated a brink of WW III situation which we called "the doomsday game" with students acting as the leaders of the various nations, etc.
We developed a formula to explain why some groups went to war and others did not and called it the "greed/stupidity factor" (gsf). The freshmen always had a very high gsf and always went to war. The seniors always had a very low gsf and never went to war.
Appaerently, they don't have any seniors at J.P. Morgan.