Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 23, 1995 TAG: 9501240024
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Apparently, in 1993, our president and Congress felt that married-joint filers with incomes of more than $44,000 were wealthy, since by one vote in each house of Congress, they passed the largest tax increase in history and made up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits taxable. If you use the Census Bureau's parameters, the ``middle class'' just got slapped with the ``rich man's'' tax.
Now, with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, tax reform and reductions are a very hot issue. Republicans came up with a proposal called the ``family plan,'' and it covers families with up to $200,000 income. Does this change the yardstick for ``middle class,'' or does it help more taxpayers reduce their tax bill?
Republican Congressman Dick Armey wants to do away with our present income tax and have a flat 17 percent rate. Democratic Congressman Dick Gephardt says this takes from the middle class and gives to the wealthy. Which ``middle class'' is Gephardt talking about?
Finally, not to be outdone by either political party, President Clinton offers his so-called ``Middle Class Bill of Rights.'' In this plan, ``middle class'' means families earning up to $75,000 a year. The plan would give tax credits of $500 for each child under age 13 to families under $75,000 annual income.
It's time to stop this contest to see who can give the most dollars to the most taxpayers. Joe Taxpayer isn't dumb. He knows Congress never gave away a dollar to anyone without first taking it from a taxpayer. We also know where the road to tax cuts lead. We learned that from President Reagan's plan, which the Democratic Congress approved, and which put us on the way to a national debt of more than $4 trillion.
Government must come up with a reasonable standard to identify middle-class Americans. There's no way to cut taxes for the middle class when it includes households with earnings as low as $12,965 and as high as $200,000. Joe Taxpayer is tired of being overtaxed and deceived. Washington needs to recognize this, before it goes off half-cocked again.
CHARLES H. DROSTE
ROANOKE
Come and get it, Montgomery Co.
THE JAN. 12 news article, ``Frozen out on the wrong side of the line,'' is a total outrage. It serves to show pin-headed bureaucrats at their absolute best.
Here is a hard-working woman with a home. Single or double wide, it's still her home, even if it's a trailer. She doesn't want government handouts, just a permit for electricity.
Planning Director Terry Harrington says no electricity, and he'll help her to see things his way. Well, he needs to be fair, or maybe we'll cut out his electric service in order to get negotiations on equal ground.
He doesn't want to take her to court due to the code, which could be struck down as unconstitutional. It's discrimination, based on income. If you can't afford a double-wide trailer, you can't afford to live in Roanoke County, even next to the dump - a dump that no one I know of on Bradshaw Road wanted.
It's to Supervisor Harry Nickens' credit that he wants to solve this problem. Don't stop with this parcel of land; turn the whole county over to Montgomery County. Give taxpayers a big tax break, and we'll be rid of county Supervisors Bob Johnson and Ed Kohinke. This would do more for Roanoke County voters than anything proposed to date by Gov. Allen.
TERESA J. WALKER
ROANOKE
Big Apple with a Virginia taste
THE EXTRA section article about Southwest Virginians living in New York (Jan. 8, ``New York stories'') was interesting and insightful. But, unfortunately, it employed typically negative overtones heard too often.
Actually, New York isn't a bad place for some of us who find such positive qualities as ethnic diversity, excellent educational institutions, several professional sports and a vibrant energy appealing.
Your reporter doesn't mention that many Virginians move here to pursue careers besides those related to the arts. Among my friends from Roanoke, for example, are a teacher, a botanist and a publisher. There is, after all, much more attracting people to New York than just a go at Broadway.
As for your reporter's portrayal of New York's neon side, if he would have looked around a little closer at all of the city, he may have been surprised to find a National Wildlife Refuge (Jamaica Bay) in Queens, a restored colonial village (Richmond town) in Staten Island and a great BBQ restaurant in Greenwich Village that rivals my hometown Rocky Mount's great Old Virginia BBQ.
I invite him to take a wider view of New York if he comes back. He may just discover the things that make some local expatriates feel as much at home here as in the Roanoke Valley.
GREG TURNER
NEW YORK, NY
by CNB