THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
I am getting sick of media pundits/editorialists bashing the GOP for ``helping the rich at the expense of the poor'' (see ``GOP targets poor,'' by columnist Anthony Lewis, Perspectives, Dec. 28).
It is true the wealth gap between the rich and poor has increased over the past decade. But who developed the unfair federal tax code (with its myriad loopholes) and the ineffective welfare system (with its disincentives to work) over the past 20-25 years? Answer: the Democrat-controlled Congress.
There is no sin in being poor, and there is no crime in accumulating wealth. What is unconscionable is not allowing disadvantaged people to work their way out of poverty with private/charitable assistance and not taxing the very wealthy at least the same percentage as the productive, working middle class.
The problem is not the GOP. The problem is the Democrats and their media cohorts who are defending the system where they spend other people's tax dollars on an ineffective welfare system, meanwhile enriching themselves through an unfair tax code. If this cycle is not broken, which is what the Republicans are attempting to do, then we will all be losers in the end.
DAVID C. McCRARY
Virginia Beach, Dec. 28, 1995 by CNB