THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506160011
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
The ideas presented by Marianne Means (``GOP concentration on the rich is playing with fire,'' Another View, May 28) show how out of step liberalism has become.
She attempts to strike fear into the heart of working America by declaring evil an alleged ``income gap'' where some are very rich and some are very poor. She lambasts the Republican Congress for inaction.
Would Ms. Means prefer congressional legislation limiting the amount of money a person can make? How about surrendering all income to the government and have it divided equally among us?
She denies that tax cuts would spur investments but then decries ``tax breaks geared toward those blessed with substantial assets to shelter.''
The income gap grew most, she claims, during the Reagan years. The truth is that no country has come close to the economic expansion we experienced in the '80s.
Ms. Means stumbles into the truth by saying that the middle class drives a society. It does. Do not insult them by claiming a violent revolution is afoot if minimum wages aren't increased and government retraining programs aren't expanded to make up for the abysmally poor education the government gave them.
What the middle class is tired of is government deciding how much people make and how much is confiscated and spent in the name of fairness.
BRIAN KIRWIN
Chesapeake, June 3, 1995 by CNB