Letters to the editor for Dec. 1

• Published December 01, 2008

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The rich are not paying fair share of taxes

I'm responding to the letter by Larry Allen, who predicted our economy will collapse because of President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress.

Is he the only person in America who doesn't know the economy has already collapsed under Republican rule?

This sky-is-falling rhetoric is not new. When Bill Clinton was elected, the Wall Street Journal, among others, predicted the end of our economy. Ignored was the fact we had annual record deficits for 12 years under Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush.

Lack of oversight led to the failure of the savings and loans, resulting in billions of taxpayers' dollars used to bail out investors. Sound familiar?

Responsible leadership under Clinton resulted in a booming economy and four years of surplus. Shortly after George W. Bush was appointed president, he saw this surplus money rolling in and declared, "It's not the government's money, it's your money."

Checks were sent out and renewed tax breaks for millionaires brought back years of record deficits. Recently, Warren Buffett, one of the richest men on Earth, asked employees to furnish him with how much tax they pay. Even his secretary paid a higher rate than he did. Some workers paid a rate twice as high as his. Buffett said the wealthy should pay more.

Billionaire hedge fund managers pay about 15 percent annually. How much do you pay? Personally, I think making the super-rich pay as high a rate as most of us is not unreasonable.

Larry Fox, Olympia

War makes fools of everyone

One winter morning in 1915, a plank appeared above a war-barraged German trench in Flanders.

On it, in big letters, were scrawled the words, "The English are fools."

Within minutes the plank was shot to pieces by English rifle fire.

Another plank appeared: "The French are fools."

That too was soon smashed by English fire.

Then a third plank rose over the German trench: "We are all fools. Let's all go home."

Though quickly reduced to splinters, there was laughter on both sides, and miserable soldiers of all uniforms felt the tug of truth in the words, and many voiced the desire to have the old men who made the war come and fight it out among themselves.