Page 14 The INDEPENDENT, April 17, 2003
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La tta rs , continuad
From page 3
ed by the Congress last year
It is difficult how links be provided tax relief for the
tween
organized
terrorist “wealthy”. Certainly the $500
groups and Iraq could be fabri per person tax rebates all tax
cated by the U.S. when the payers got last year provided
British forces in Iraq have found some tax relief to everyone!
evidence of that linkage, when Under the rest of that tax bill
the Iraqis have been operating which Congress passed, the
a terrorist training facility in persons benefitting the most
Iraq, and when the Iraqi gov are those making less than
ernment, or what is left of it, $30,000 per year. They get a
calls upon terrorists to come to 33% reduction in tax. Those
its aid. Remember, Saddam making more than $200,000
has been making cash pay per year get only a 11 % reduc
ments to the families of Pales tion. Under the current tax
tinian
terrorist
homicide measure proposed by the Ad
bombers.
ministration, taxpayers earning
You also wrote that shrinking less than $35,000 per year will
public funds have been misallo- pay no federal income tax at all!
cated to the military. In fact, The major consequence of
even with the additional funds these two tax bills will be to shift
that have been allocated to the the tax burden even further
Defense Budget by President onto the “wealthy". We all
Bush, the Defense Budget con should remember that the top
tinues to consume the smallest 5% of all wage earners already
percentage, of the nation’s pay over 50% of all federal in
Gross Domestic Product, that it come tax dollars collected.
has at any time since the Even President Kennedy, in
1930’s. The United States 1961, said that the way to re
spent almost 3 times more on vive the economy and increase
Defense, as a percentage of Federal revenues was to re
the GDP, at the time of the duce taxes.
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
It is equally erroneous to as
(and John F. Kennedy was sert that those dissenting from
President), than it spends to public policies could be found
day. Moreover, the Federal to be security risks and sum
Budget, even in the Bush Ad marily jailed. Nothing in the
ministration, continues to grow homeland security measure
even faster than the rate of in that was passed allows the
flation. Federal public funds Federal government to do any
aren’t shrinking, and Defense such thing. The persons incar
keeps getting allocated less cerated without bail and hear
and less of them.
ings are enemy combatants
Your editorial repeats the captured overseas, and are not
mantra that the tax cuts adopt American citizens. American
citizens are fully protected by
the Constitution, and nothing in
federal legislation has, or can,
affect their rights.
You have written that the Ad
ministration wants war with Iraq
for power. That assertion disre
gards a statement Secretary of
State Colin Powell made in
England not long ago. Para
phrasing, he stated “For over a
century America has sent its
sons and daughters abroad in
harm’s way to secure the free
dom of people in other nations.
And all we have asked in return
is a small plot of land in which
to bury our dead.”
Your assertion is equally er
roneous that the Administration
has destroyed “working, effec
tive coalitions that date back as
long as 40 years.” What coali
tions? NATO? The French have
not been a political member of
NATO since Charles DeGaulle.
Germany has supported us
only when its government
found it to be in Germany’s best
interest (it did not support us in
Vietnam, for example). Russia
was the cornerstone of the “evil
empire” until the Soviet Union
collapsed. Russia is headed by
a former KGB spy master, and
has never been part of any
coalition with the U.S. NATO
did agree to defend Turkey
when Turkey supported the
U.S. action against Iraq.
The statement you made
about the Administration de
stroying a budget surplus built
up for Social Security and
Medicare trust funds also is in
School Board, continued.
From page 10
cumbered, i.e., needed to fulfill
district obligations. She ex
plained that the figures may not
be complete, but they are as
accurate as possible. Accord
ing to Plews, this is one more
step toward determining the ac
tual ending fund balance, an
essential part of budgeting for
next year.
The district’s cash flow has
been eased, with staff agree
ment, by eliminating a lump
sum previously issued in June
and, instead, prorating that
amount throughout the summer
months. Funderburg told the
board that he thought the dis
trict could make it through the
remainder of the school year
without reducing contingency
funds or borrowing.
P.I.E. Awards
Awards were given to Karen
Roberts for volunteering her
time and skills to repair the high
school curtains, to Dick and
Kathleen Gwin for the donation
of $500 to assist with the cost
of softball uniforms and the pur
chase of hats and shirts for the
football team, and to Roger
Campbell for hauling textbooks
from the book depository to the
district.
School Calendar
The board was presented
with a calendar, unanimously
recommended by staff, that in
cludes a student release time
of 1:22 p.m. on Fridays,with the
remainder of the normal staff
day used for in-service staff de
velopment. Funderburg told the
board that the staff will be
formed into professional learn
ing teams that will be able to re
search best teaching practices
across curriculum and age
groups. Regular, scheduled in-
service will allow consistent fol
low-up and, according to Fun
derburg, teachers will be able
to begin using the data avail
able from state testing to in
crease learning opportunities
for students.
Director Leslie O’Leary, and
several audience members,
were uncertain that teachers
would use the time as it is in
tended. Harrison explained
that, unlike in-service days as
they are now, regular Friday in-
service would be part of the
scheduled work week. Funder
burg said that a close watch will
be kept to ensure that the time
is used for in-service training.
O ’Leary was also concern
about parents having to provide
for child care earlier in the day
on Friday. The board unani
mously approved the calendar
as recommended.
error. There never has been an
actual Federal budget surplus.
There was a projected surplus
of $5.6 trillion over 10 years.
When Federal revenues de
clined following the economic
turndown that began in Presi
dent Clinton’s administration,
the projected surplus declined.
A surplus is by definition an ex
cessive collection of taxes! It is
supposed to decline. The tax
rebates of 2002 were so small,
those “tax cuts” (the only ones
so far) had negligible impact on
the “surplus.” Medicare and So
cial Security have been, and
are being, fully funded.
There are no Medicare and
Social Security “trust funds”.
Since the 1960’s, Social Secu
rity and Medicare fund collec
tions have been commingled
with general Federal tax collec
tions. During President Clin
ton’s administration, congres
sional Republicans proposed
re-segregating Social Security
and Medicare tax collections,
excluding them from calcula
tions of budget surpluses. Con
gressional Democrats rejected
the proposal.
Reasonable persons may
disagree with the decision to at
tack Iraq. Those who oppose
the war because innocent civil
ians may die need to responsi
bly consider the fate of those
Iraqi civilians at the hands of
Saddam’s torture masters. Iraq
is a state where people are fed
feet first into a plastic shredder,
are hung in public squares to
bleed to death after their
tongues are cut out, and are
buried alive in hot asphalt. Iraq
has killed thousands of its own
citizens, including women and
children, with nerve gas. Sad
dam has allowed Iraq’s children
to go hungry and diseased,
while he diverts oil revenues to
build more and more grandiose
palaces, and to work on pro
ducing a nuclear weapon. We
cannot negotiate a solution to
all this with a madman like Sad
dam.
Americans who allow all this
to go on for no other reason
than because of their patholog
ical hatred of President Bush
are not necessarily unpatriotic,
or treasonous, but they are at
least Bad Americans.
David B. Smith
Vernonia
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