Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511270005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I feel one problem in America is the giveaway programs your newspaper promotes.
I don't have dental insurance, nor do I know many people who do. We have to set aside what we can for situations like this. And, yes, it might mean working a few more hours or getting an extra job. Every convenience store, fast-food restaurant or grocery store seems to have a help-wanted sign in its window. I don't know about those you reported on, but if my family had needs, I'd work 20 hours a day rather than stand with my hand out. At some point and time, we have to be responsible for ourselves.
Are these the same people who receive Aid to Dependent Children grants, food stamps, etc.? How much more do they want us to hand them?
Those to whom we don't give enough coverage and money are our elderly and citizens unable to care for themselves. I think people like those you reported on should be ashamed as long as one needy person goes hungry or without medical care.
MIKE COX ROANOKE
Atrocities are crimes against all
REGARDING Philip Bradford's Nov. 9 letter to the editor, ``America forgets its own atrocities'':
I don't recall hearing anyone say that atrocities are alien to U.S. soil. Our nation's hands are indeed bloodstained by our forefathers' misdeeds, but that doesn't make it right for us to allow such crimes abroad to continue. Part of what makes us uniquely human is our ability to learn from the past and from our mistakes.
When a group of people exterminates another innocent group, the act transcends societies' borders, and the crime is against humanity. We have not only the right, but also the responsibility to intervene in acts of genocide because we are all human beings. The crime is against us all.
CHARLES E. MARCUM BEDFORD
All working people need tax cuts
FROM ALL media, I've heard that tax breaks for the rich will hurt the poor and elderly. I have several questions:
What is the purpose of taxes? I thought it was to raise monies for the necessary work of government. However, some seem to think it's for redistribution of wealth. Involuntary redistribution of wealth (Marxism) has proved a miserable failure and has had marginal success only when used by the most brutal governments - such as China's - that are willing to kill citizens by the thousands.
Capitalism already has a plan for wealth redistribution - it's called work.
Who are the rich? President Clinton says those whose incomes exceed $30,000 a year. (That's who suffered history's biggest tax hike in 1993.) The congressional plan calls for a tax credit for families with children who make less than $110,000 a year. If only the ``rich'' get tax cuts, then how is it possible that a tax cut includes the middle class but excludes the upper class?
The most important thing this country needs to do is to eliminate the national debt, which will require 60 years of government surplus (not continued deficits) of $100 billion a year. Government must spend money responsibly - 2 percent or 3 percent increases every year to match the economy's growth, not 10 percent or 12 percent increases as we have seen. And government must provide tax cuts for all working people so more money will be available to them to save, invest and spend. That's what creates jobs, not government programs. That's what redistributes wealth equitably, and that's what grows the economy so government can tax us more.
ROBERT COLLINS ROANOKE
Agency receives no government funding
IN CHARLES R. Haynes' Nov. 8 letter to the editor (``No respect for one United Way agency''), he admits that Planned Parenthood in Roanoke ``started out as a worthwhile organization.'' He's now critical of the agency's ties to taxpayers' money: ``If citizens knew how much Planned Parenthood received from the government ... they wouldn't believe it.''
Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge receives no money from the government, according to an agency spokesperson. That means no money from the federal, state or local governments. It received its last government grant more than a decade ago. Almost all of its funding comes from patient fees and individual donations.
Knowing that Planned Parenthood doesn't rely on the government increases my respect for the good work this organization does. I admire the United Way for supporting this agency, and all other agencies that provide worthwhile services to needy people.
JODIE R. CAPLAN ROANOKE
by CNB