Letters to the Editor

Penny Fattig (12-22-10 letter to editor) wants us to let her get things “straight.” In my 04-29-09 letter (response to one of her letters) I wrote, “If I had my way, they (veterans) would never have to spend a dime on anything after what they sacrificed.” Penny wrote (12-22-10), “Neil...doesn’t want to work with people who approve of...veterans benefits...”

How “straight” is that? I view veterans benefits as part payment for a debt we will never be able to fully pay. If there is no constitutional justification for them, I think we should make it so, through the legal process.

Penny did better with government involvement in education and agriculture being Marxist. If she has read Marx’s “Communist Manifesto,” I’m impressed. But then again, she went acting all “crookedy” on her Holy Grail (Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid). Who cares what happens to future payers as long as I get mine?

Penny was being sarcastic when she wrote that we should go back to the way it was when people “...got to stand in long soup lines and sleep under bridges...” She jokingly wrote about tea partiers being responsible for dumpster diving. I’m surprised she didn’t mention Republican’s long-standing desire to let old people eat dog food.

Lloyd Pohl (05-06-09) wrote about people living on the streets of Boston. On Thanksgiving, President Obama proudly commented, “Even as we speak, there are countless Americans serving at soup kitchens...”

Dumpster diving is now an art form. How could this be possible with all of Penny’s glorious entitlement programs? Government robs us blind, then like Penny’s hero FDR, throws back some coins to the peasants so we will re-elect him dictator.

Unabashedly, Penny resorted to class warfare against wealthy liberals like Ted Turner and robber baron Warren Buffett. She also attacked Rush Limbaugh (one of radio’s largest charitable donors). She implied that they “...may pay less in taxes proportionately than you and I.” In 2008, the adjusted gross income of the top 5% earners was 34.73%. Their share of taxes was 58.72%. The next 45% earned 52.52% of the AGI and paid 38.58% of the tax load. The bottom 50% earned 12.75% and paid 2.70%. The AGI / taxes paid would look something like this.

Top 5% [-------] / [-------] Middle 45% [-------] / [-------] Bottom 50% [-------] / half of this [-------]

Penny wonders why trickle down economics didn’t work during the Great Depression. It doesn’t take “Mister Obvious” to figure out, the more you raise the tax rate on the rich (or anybody), the less they will spend.

FDR never got it. He took tax rates from 25% to 94%. That would sure entice me to spend more, how ’bout you? Democrats have vilified the Bush tax cuts ever since they were implemented.

Now that Democrat’s re-elections are in jeopardy, they voted to keep the cuts in place. Now they are the Obama tax cuts and they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread (which under Obama, we’ll be standing in line for).

Let me get this straight. .. Neil (Davis, letter to editor 12-15-10) doesn’t want to work with people who approve of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, government student loans, farm programs, etc., because these are Marxist programs, correct?

Let’s go back to the way it was when people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own because of health, disabilities, old age or economy collapse, got to stand in long soup lines and sleep under bridges because they couldn’t pay their bills.

No, we mustn’t ask people to pay taxes, even the wealthiest like Ted Turner, Warren Buffet or Rush Limbaugh (who may pay less in taxes proportionately than you and I). The trickle down theory will take care of us.

Yeah, right. I wonder why it didn’t work that way during the Great Depression? No, we mustn’t work together. Gridlock is much more effective.

That terrible FDR, who stuffed the Supreme Court (whatever that means) to pass Social Security. What in the world must he have been thinking to want to help people in old age, the disabled, the veterans?

We need to get those Tea Party candidates elected so they can get started dismantling our social programs. That might not be so bad, though. I’ve heard that if you get to the dumpsters right after the restaurants close, the food isn’t that bad. Maybe someone will make their fortune by inventing wheelchair accessible dumpsters. We’ll also be needing speedier wheelchairs so we can get there before the food is all gone.

Yes, I am joking, but I’m also trying to make a serious point. The reason social programs came about is that they were urgently needed.

I am so proud to live in a community like Gothenburg where people are actually allowed to show their faith. This is the second year that I’ve gone to a Christmas program and they actually sang about the Christ child.

Since hearing about the production of “The Christmas Wish” I had it on my list of holiday things to do. I was really blessed by the program.

So thank-you to whoever gave the okay to do such a wonderful production. It truly made my holiday season a little extra special.

Penny Fattig couldn’t be more wrong. She doesn’t seem to see a difference between constitutional amendments and FDR stuffing the Supreme Court to push through unconstitutional enactments like social security. The framers included Article V in the Constitution so amendments could be made through a legal process. Did I mention legal?

Definition of education: the process of imparting or acquiring knowledge. Penny wrote, “most people didn’t need an education because they could make a living off of the land.” All a man needed was “a gun, an ax, a knife, a horse, a cow and some seeds.”

Apparently no knowledge of firearms or knives was required to shoot a deer and skin it. No knowledge of animal husbandry was needed to care for critters. No knowledge of tree felling or fence building? Why have an ax? No carpentry skills were needed to build a house or a barn. Knowledge of planting and harvesting wasn’t required either. It is only through a government “safety net” that we even have food today (hundreds of years later).

Perhaps you are familiar with this slogan, “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” This is where Penny agrees with Karl Marx. Government has the right to take from Person A and give to Person B. Person B has the right to receive what belonged to Person A. Person A has no rights.

Just because states have the power “to take care of Penny’s amenities,” doesn’t mean they should. Tea partiers want a return to smaller government and lower taxes, so people can afford their own amenities. This isn’t rocket science folks.

Some people got upset when they heard Obama’s pastor screaming “God damn America.” Hey, call us crazy. Penny might want to study up on Black liberation theology before calling “Reverend” Wright’s church Christian. Obama attended both a Catholic and a predominantly Muslim populated school as a child in Indonesia. I’m not much on the birth certificate conspiracy, but still think it’s odd that he had it sealed.

It’s quite a stretch to call the stimulus bipartisan, unless observing that eleven Democrats voted with Republicans against it, when only three RINO’s voted for it. Penny and the Obama administration may be the only ones that think this “friends of Barack” slush fund has had any meaningful positive impact on the economy.

Penny is tired of the hate and hype and wants the truth. I suggest that she write a letter to Obama and tell him to stop talking. Penny also wants specifics. Here’s a couple. Obama told Latinos not to sit out the election, but instead say, we’re going to “punish our enemies” (enemies being Americans who oppose illegal immigration). Now he is referring to the Republican party as hostage takers. He would never use this term to describe terrorists that are trying to kill us.

I don’t want to work together with those who advocate socialism. I want to make them irrelevant.