The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Dining Out

12.27.06 @ 12:01AM

THE AGONY OF DEFEAT
Re: Ben Stein's Dinner With the Bushes:

Dear Mr. Stein, Spectator Boys and Girls,

I saw your very nice piece on "Dinner with the Bushes" but it had me laughing in the first paragraph.

"...the chief of staff, and Michael Steele, lieutenant governor of Maryland, who just lost an agonizingly close race to now Senator-elect Cardin."

Since when is losing by a solid 10 points considered "agonizingly close" in politics or any contest?

But, hey. If you need to mislead in order to pump the man's ego, I understand. It's sort of like the misleading sample ballots he felt he had to use on Election Day where he and his Governor claimed to have support from high-profile Democrats that they never had.

That was shameful. Your piece is just inaccurate.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes,
-- David Paulson
Communications Director
Maryland Democratic Party

GERSON TO PERSON CALLS
Re: W. James Antle III's Selfish Old Party:

The reason conservatives give is they recognize that they are blessed by their ability to create wealth, whether business owner or wage earner, have traded their time, skill, intelligence for money and cannot get it back, and know that misfortune and other situations require the need for a hand up to the community around them (local, state, national and/or global). They give liberally to causes they believe in to help their fellow man, woman and child. However, to a person or company, you can bet they give when they believe they have some say in what their money buys, in essence, they have some feeling of control. They give to the United Way (we can debate the merits of that later) because they "see" the effects of their giving, if United Way squanders the money, they give someplace else the next time around. They have some sense of ownership or control of the money they have given. When you earn the money the old fashioned way, you give the old fashioned way. No one likes the thought of giving to an amorphous, unaccountable, and uncaring behemoth like the government, but to a local charity, certainly. Americans will give to the Red Cross for disasters in record numbers, but let the Red Cross squander it, it will disappear. As the Gipper might say, Give, but verify.
-- Bill Elsasser
St. Louis, Missouri

I'm not an "antigovernment conservative" but my wallet can't tell the difference between a Liberal Democrat or Compassionate Conservative Republican government tax. My company gave me a $500.00 bonus for Christmas and I will get the use of 64% of that thanks to the marginal income tax rate I have and Social Security/Medicare taxes I pay. I've paid in over $140,000 to Social Security since 1968 and over $33,000 to Medicare having started out at Government-mandated minimum wage in my career field. The imputed compounded value of my Social Security taxes at 3% till I retire in 2018 would be over $500,000.00. At historical Market rates that would be almost $3,000,000.00. Likewise the money I've paid into Medicare and my own medical insurance programs by then would cover several families' life time medical bills. What the Social Security Administration promises back in return starting at age 66 plus the typical Medicare payout for retired persons redefines the word "thief".

Far too many people see Social Security and Medicare as investments in "their" future and not as taxes. They are taxes pure and simple. I and tens of millions of others who have worked their entire life to get where we are today subsidize the bulk of the Welfare State benefactors and there is no end to its increasing burden for generations to come. Somebody has to pay and I know precisely who is paying and who is getting the primary benefit of my labor.

Even with a house mortgage I paid enough in Federal and State income last year to fully fund a full time minimum wage worker or 2-3 illegal aliens. When I can marry my favorite Cat I'll cut my income burden 45% or enough to buy a new car every 5 years with cash, max out my 401K contributions and retire early, get the benefit of three years of post tax raises every year. Adopting the other two I have would drop my burden 55%. Only in Washington DC and various State Capitals is $5500.00 not real money.

No amount of economic growth is going to outgrow the increasing burden of all these creeping wealth transfer programs and the sloth that breeds in a portion of our citizenry. Somebody has to pay for all the wealth transferred to the tens of millions that didn't earn it. That seems to be lost on those elected to office that earn 4 times the median income, can vote themselves a raise and have the Golden Parachute of Retirement plans. I'm not anti-government but the financial burden all this compassionate government brings to my backside isn't being shared by those that receive the bulk of the benefits generation after generation.

I just can't wait till the Government mandates an increase in my wages to pay for all that it steals from me to give to others.
-- Thom Bateman
Newport News, Virginia

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Business, Social Security, Satire, Religion, Islam, Abortion, Books, Constitution, Law, Iraq, NATO, Fascism, Unions, Medicare