letters
TO THE EDITOR
by electricity, bludgeoning, gassing and
then cutting of their blood vessels at the
neck. Thank you.
Bob Berman
Cheshire
REVOLUTIONS
When General Thomas Gage sent
700 elite redcoat soldiers off to Concord,
Mass., April 19, 1775, to seize and destroy
illegally stockpiled gunpowder and
weaponry, he was utilizing force to attempt
to quash provincial disobedience. At stake
was the issue of who should govern, who
should have the power to determine how
the people of the province were to exist.
Massachusetts was an English colony, a
possession, a capital asset. The land and its
people were profi t-making resources. The
king and parliament were willing to wage
war to preserve their power to dictate.
Occasionally,
oppressed
people,
unconscionably exploited, attempt to take
away that power. Dictators fall, revolutions
occur, corrupt political parties are voted
out of offi ce, corporate behemoths are
broken up or vigorously regulated.
Our century’s Lexington and Concord
time has come. We, the people, must wrest
the power to govern away from our greedy
capitalists and their bought politicians,
who profess to own us. Like King George
III, our rulers are determined to maximize
their power to exploit. We must be vigilant;
we must be vociferous; we must support
courageous demonstrations like Occupy
Wall Street. We must neither permit
ourselves to be deluded by dishonest
characterizations and deliberate falsehoods
nor be fearful nor be divided in purpose by
social, racial, ethnic or religious wedge
issues. We must win back the constitutional
levers of governance designed for us by our
forbearers and then utilize them to generate
the blessings that a free, empathetic nation
bestows.
Harold Titus
Florence
DEAR SUPER COMMITTEE
I am a disabled citizen in Lane County.
I voluntarily serve on the advisory board
of the Community Health Council
(CHC). We advise two federally funded
community CHCs, Charnelton in Eugene
and Riverstone CHC in Springfi eld. CHCs
are vital resources for our uninsured and
underinsured. CHCs provide high quality
health care, dental care for school children,
prenatal care and care for patients with
chronic medical and behavioral health
conditions.
The Pledge to America states,
“Joblessness is the single most important
challenge facing America today.” So why
are House Republicans cutting jobs at
health centers, which are in low income,
underserved communities? Because of
the $1.3 billion cut to the Health Centers
Program for FY 2011, 127 health centers
will close nationally. These 127 CHCs
employed 7,434 individuals. These CHCs
provided the MOST cost-effi cient health
care to over 3 million patients, who now
are forced to either go without care or seek
it at costly emergency rooms. For Oregon
78 or more professional positions were
lost. More than 62,000 citizens receive
less or no services and lost revenue is over
$2.9 million. Yes, the budget needs to be
balanced. But, in my opinion, to do so at
the cost of cutting affordable medical care
for the poor and eliminating necessary
jobs and revenue in the communities at the
same time is both misguided and immoral.
You representatives of the people of the
U.S. must support these essential programs
so they can continue to grow.
David Parker
Eugene
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MARXIST LEFT
Clearly, millions of low-IQ Americans
have been hoodwinked by the Marxist left
into believing that “the evil rich” pay a
smaller percentage of federal income tax
than a secretary.
According to IRS statistics for 2008
(most recent), the top 1 percent of taxpayers
had an average tax rate of 23.3 percent. The
top 10 percent of taxpayers had an average
tax rate of 18.7 percent. The bottom 50
percent of taxpayers had an average tax
rate of 2.6 percent.
The top 1 percent paid 38 percent of all
federal income tax revenues, and the top
10 percent paid 70 percent (http://1.usa.
gov/o9Y7vG).
To anyone with an average IQ, it’s
obvious that “the evil rich” are already
carrying the water for the bottom 50
percent, meaning our country has a
spending problem instead of a revenue
problem. And since class-envying liberals
hate “the rich” so much, maybe they
should just run them out of the country for
the high crime of being wealthy.
But then who would pay 70 percent of
all income-tax revenues?
Don Richey
Eugene
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CONCERNED PARENTS
“Class War From Above” by Gordon
Lafer (EW 9/29) was both signifi cant and
engaging.
As concerned parents it is upsetting to
witness the intense level of hostility and
aggression directed toward teachers who
educate the children of our McKenzie
River community. The Sept. 21 McKenzie
School District school board meeting
was fi lled with antagonisms that are not
benefi cial to our children’s educational
opportunities.
The school board has refused to meet
the teachers’ proposals. These proposals
are reasonable and less than is deserved. Of
importance is the FACT that the McKenzie
School District can afford to meet the
proposed one-year contract. This will,
among other things, bring back: one half-
time elementary, one high school business
elective, one high school math class and
one middle school technology class.
There can be no question that a return of
these services is benefi cial to our students.
It is egregious that the school board
has already spent thousands of our district
funds to pay a lawyer’s fees rather than
spend $3,700 to meet the proposed one-
year contract. We feel this has violated the
community’s good faith.
Comments from the board about the
labor of certain district employees being
more “valuable” than others and anti-union
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EUGENE WEEKLY OCTOBER 13, 2011
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