False Attacks Repel Voters
To the Editor,
I think that one major “Lesson Learned” to take away from Tag Greason’s 57% - 42% victory over Del. Poisson is that Loudoun voters reject the ugly character assassination-style campaigning that has recently typified too many Democratic efforts in Loudoun County. The vicious attack ads paid for by House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong (D-10) and his PAC this past year and by the Democratic Party of Virginia in the 2007 campaign went way beyond acceptable campaign rhetoric. They rightfully should be condemned, and I believe the voters did just that in the 32nd district.
Patricia Phillips
Sterling
And More Taxes...
To the Editor,
With the healthcare takeover and the ‘cap-and-trade’ energy legislation now being rammed through Congress, it’s desirable to remind readers about who pays taxes. In a basic Economics course, we all learned that, generally speaking, businesses don’t pay taxes - or have any other costs. Businesses actually bear only ‘cost risk.’ That is, they only bear the risk that they can’t pass all their costs to their customers in the final prices charged. A business that can’t is soon out of business.
Hence, when you hear House Speaker Pelosi talking about those nasty insurance companies and energy companies paying those billions in new taxes, like the $700+ billion for healthcare, they are flat out lying to us. In fact, it’s individuals….you and me, who ultimately pay all taxes. Moreover, it would be primarily the poor and the vast middle-class who would be footing most of the bill…simply because there are more of us. Thus far, estimates for the cap-and-trade tax have ranged between $1,800/ and $3,000/year for a family of four. So much for campaign promises.
If those kinds of tax increases aren’t bad enough in an economy with unemployment exceeding 10%, consider Speaker Pelosi’s comments about a federal Value-Added tax “for future consideration.” A Value Added tax is simply a tax collected for the value added at each stage of production. The best way to think of it would be as a new federal sales tax, except that it’s buried in the final price instead of shown separately on the receipt. They do so love those hidden taxes.
All the media talk thus far has been about the costs of this legislation only at the federal level. However, today I heard a Georgia Congressman claim that the healthcare legislation would add a whopping 10% to Georgia’s total budget, mostly due to the federally mandated Medicaid changes. While unsubstantiated, I would love to know the added costs to Virginia’s taxpayers.
What’s going on in Washington these days begs a few questions. What percentage of an economy must the government control before a Capitalist economy becomes a Socialist economy, such as North Korea or Cuba? Likewise, at what point do governments’ spending choices replacing individuals’ spending choices turn liberty into servitude? We are yet at those points, but why would one consciously move any further along the continuum toward an economic model like North Korea?
James K. Peterbok
CountrySide
Dear Editor,
I am writing to you because though I have written repeatedly to my senators, they have become deaf-toned to the Virginians regarding our opinion on health care which is that we don't want it passed because it's all about Harry Reid's glory and dramatic increase in government meddling into our personal lives. Ever since the Obama adminstration took power, the middle class has been kicked around and treated like second and third class citizens while preference has been given to working class and lower. I am sick and tired of it. FOR WE ARE ALL EQUAL UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. My faith and hope is that our calls, emails, and prayers to the Power Above will bring down the corrupted power of those who currently wield it in Washington. Otherwise, we can look forward to 2010.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Grace Tan
47376 Darkhollow Falls Terrace
Sterling, VA 20165