The anti-tax fairy
In his campaign for governor, Vivek Ramaswamy has once again declared his intentions to eliminate Ohio’s income taxes and dramatically reduce property taxes.
Ohio’s government, firmly in control of the Republican Party, has cut income taxes in almost every biennial budget. It eliminated inheritance taxes altogether along with most taxes on corporations. This has been financed by severe cuts to the state’s share of support for public schools and universities, first responders, libraries and other public services.
The result of these policies has been massive increases in local property taxes merely to make up for the cuts in state funding of vital services.
The major difference between taxes on income and property is simple: When the government is funded by income taxes, if you lose your job, the tax rate becomes zero.
In contrast, when property taxes fund the government, if you lose your job, you lose your house, too.
In Franklin County right now, there are folks on fixed incomes who, despite owning their homes, are faced with homelessness due to these misguided tax policies.
Ramaswamy is promising the impossible; haven’t we had enough of empty promises from our elected leaders?
Lou Friscoe, Columbus
Which law?
Re “Is breaking the law legal?” Jan. 10: Stan Fulk of Dublin, in his letter to the editor, is wrong when he says, “…if you haven’t broken a federal law — regardless of what color your skin is — you can continue to live and contribute to this great nation.”
Clearly, he doesn’t inform himself or care about the breakdown of the rule of law that has resulted in people here in the U.S. who are following the procedures and laws regulating immigration being attacked and disappeared by Gestapo ICE agents who are operating without warrants, training and without conforming to the rules regulating their operation.
Abel Orozco Ortega — arrested without a warrant near Chicago. Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen — arrested in California at the courthouse where he was complying with procedures to obtain legal status. Oliver Eloy Mata Velazquez — arrested at a court hearing in New York when following the law to obtain legal status.
An unnamed 6-year-old boy with leukemia arrested in Los Angeles. All were violently arrested by masked private army goons, without due process.
Stan Fulk disregards these violations of the rule of law.
He seems to believe that if it isn’t happening to him, it’s fine that it happens to someone else. He doesn’t realize that the rule of law protects us all and when it is violated, we are all in danger.
He seems to feel fine in his White male bubble, feeling secure from this danger, and lacks the ability to understand the larger concept of caring for our fellow humans.
Nancy Schleich, Bexley
This is insanity
In my 74 years, I never thought things with our government would get this bad.
When I was young, we had locally sponsored lynchings and extrajudicial murders of various Black Panthers. We had the American war in Vietnam, against which I marched several times.
And what do you know, here we are again. If I were younger, I would be on a plane to Minneapolis, protest sign in hand, ready to face ICE, and this time take that bullet I avoided during Vietnam.I cannot here write just what I feel about President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller and Russell Vought, to name a few indescribably evil and destructive vermin-like humans. Please, Congress, impeach and remove!It is insane to support the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, the kidnapping of its head of state, and continued heedless international warmongering. The continued invasion and military occupation of our own cities absolutely dumbfounds any thinking person.
But on it goes — perhaps at least in part to distract us all from the reality that the Epstein files (whatever they are) might provide concrete proof that the convicted criminal in the White House is, indeed, the sexual abuser we know him to be.
Mike Wallace, Xenia
Respect law enforcement
Law enforcement shootings, whether by ICE or the police, always lead to a debate as to the exact circumstances surrounding the incident. This is not surprising as studies show that eyewitness testimony oftentimes is unreliable.
In short, there will always be a variety of versions as to what actually happened.That said, there is one common root cause in many circumstances, especially the most recent instances involving ICE. That is the conscious disregard of the officers’ instructions. Somehow, our society now thinks it is acceptable to disregard the clear and unambiguous instructions of law enforcement officers.
Worse yet, many in society seem to think it is OK to antagonize officers and treat them like dirt.Law enforcement officers have an extremely difficult job. And surely they are not in the right every time.
But citizens would be well served to abide by an officer’s request. If an officer’s actions are wrong, that can be sorted out later. But yelling and screaming at the side of the road is the wrong time and place, and attempting to drive away is even worse. Escalating the situation only puts everyone at risk. Just stop. William Kloss, Dublin
Jerome Powell is a hero
Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is a hero for standing up to President Donald Trump’s intimidation. One of only a few happy events since this bully of a president has taken office is when Powell stood next to Trump when he toured the Fed building and said that what Trump was saying was not true.
Yay for truth in the “alternative facts” world of Donald Trump that we are living in.Susan B. West, Athens
Why is Trump so afraid
It may take time, but the arrogance, greed, decadence and corruption of the rich and powerful eventually results in their bringing ruin down upon themselves.
We’re seeing that play out as President Donald Trump tries desperately to keep the Epstein files secret. Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required for all the files to be released by Dec. 19. As I write this, less than 1% have been released, many so heavily redacted as to be useless.
Why is Trump so afraid of letting the American people see for ourselves which, if any, public figures may have known about, or even been involved in, Epstein’s heinous crimes? He knows he’s in them repeatedly, in damning ways. After all, he’s shown us repeatedly that the only person he cares about is himself.
That’s why we need to tell our members of Congress once more that the American people — especially those harmed by Epstein and his accomplices — are entitled to see which, if any, public figures may have known about, or even participated in, the terrible crimes Epstein carried out over decades and, without delay, vote to force the release of the full content of Epstein files.
Faith Greer, Stow
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Vivek Ramaswamy playing the anti-tax fairy. His promises are impossible | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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