Letters to Editors

Cain tax plan beats what's there

I have heard a lot of criticism of Herman Cain's 999 tax plan. They say it is too simplistic to work. Politicians do not like simple.

Our current tax code is the result of over 30 years of corruption -- politicians giving tax breaks to special interest groups for money and votes. The 999 plan is not the best solution, but it is 1,000 times better than the current tax code.

As long as there are no add-ons or special deductions, the 999 plan will work, and it is fair. It also will be a great intermediate step to the "Fair Tax," which is the best tax solution out there.

When a politician says the 999 plan or the Fair Tax will not work, he is really saying he does not (want) to relinquish his power to reward friends and punish enemies by manipulating the tax code.

That is it!

DEAN GOODMAN

Mineral Bluff, Ga.

Bribes rule all over the place

Methinks it began with my generation, (my age is 77 good years but none that I would want to go back to).

My incentive as a little guy was a switch that I often had to fetch myself.

As decades passed, parents began to reward kids for behavior that caused the least problem.

Now, in this decade, no one wants to do the right thing without a financial reward. Not only do bribes rule in the home but all the way to Wall Street.

How could this happen but that Ben Franklin's and King Solomon (book of Proverbs in the Bible) and Jesus' sermon on the mount are never read to the children or modeled by the parents?

If I were 10 years younger I would be camping on Wall Street until the super-rich began to do what is right for righteousness' sake.

DAVID LEGG

Put election focus where it belongs

Leave it to the Republicans.

We Republicans are so blessed. We don't need the Democrats to make us look stupid. We can handle that all by ourselves. Case in point: My religion is better than your religion.

I doubt very seriously that many of us are concerned about the differences between Mormons and Christians when the economy is about to do a double dip.

I suggest, rather than wondering about our Republican candidates' religious affiliation and frequency of church attendance, we might focus on their honesty, integrity and experience. Or are we going to require a religious litmus test for Republican candidates?

I am worried the general election will have the Republicans focused on gay marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act. The Democrats will be campaigning on racism and wealth envy. And the useful idiots in the media will be looking for a racist rock in Texas.

All of that while the rest of us will wonder if there is any hope for our country and our children.

VIRGIL R. SPERRY

LaFayette, Ga.

Let's look at the big picture

The football player on Signal belongs on Signal Mountain because its "rough off the mountain," to paraphrase commentary in the Times Free Press.

One should ask this question: What about the thousands of students, most of whom are on federally subsidized food assistance out of fear they may be otherwise malnourished?

But we fail to look in the mirror, focusing on the exceptional athlete as opposed to broader, entrenched socio-economic, political issues.

Anything that may be possible as solutions suggested outside our sacred cows or status quo, is of course, demonized as just not moral or Christian enough.

We ignore the continued job layoffs, declining incomes from jobs and investments. If it can't be put on a bumper sticker or harnessed in a 30-second media bought sound bite, it is beyond our attention span.

The millionaire politicians need not worry about economic security as they send their kids to private schools, the modern version of "Let Them Eat Cake."

A comedian once said ... the public simply isn't engaged, therefore, get what they deserve.

JOHN F. EARY

Ringgold, Ga.

Ringgold waiting for new Krystal

Growing Krystal stores? How about our Krystal restaurant in Ringgold. It's still destroyed after the tornado in April. We like Krystals too.

STEPHEN M. HOWARD

Ringgold, Ga.

GOP removed protections

Concerning the Occupy Wall Street protests:

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, opening up the market among banking companies, securities companies and insurance companies. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank, a commercial bank and an insurance company.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms and insurance companies to consolidate. This allowed the greedy Wall Street markets to gamble casino style with pension funds, mortgages, etc.

This is how we arrived at our near second depression in 2008.

Our financial markets were protected from financial ruin for 63 years until the Republicans eliminated the protection.

Wall Street's gains are privatized and their losses are socialized. Yes, Bush/Cheney handed over $800 billion-plus of taxpayers' money to Wall Street, no strings attached, before their departure to their luxury homes and lifestyles.

Now citizens across this country are rising up against this profanity of the criminal financial compounds that have wreaked near total destruction of the middle class and lower income workers in this country.

The Dodd-Frank Act helps with consumer protections. Read it.

ANN BENTON

Signal Mountain

Illegal laborers will do the work

On Wednesday, Oct. 19, you published a letter complaining about illegal labor. I agree, but I am also a realist.

I own quite a bit of property and occasionally need some day labor. Several times I have approached white or black "legal" men holding a sign that says "will work for food," but they had an excuse why they could not come work.

Here in Cleveland, there is a convenience store where the Hispanics gather every morning. Many times I have gone over there and hired one or two of them for $10 per hour, and every time have gotten a hard worker who didn't mind doing hard labor for eight hours.

If the writer of that letter wants to show me the place where the "legals" hang out wanting to do hard labor up here for $10 an hour, I will gladly go hire them the next time.

JOE KIRKPATRICK

Cleveland, Tenn.

Harvesting surplus deer necessary

As a biologist, I have been following the dispute over the Enterprise South archery hunts.

I know that harvesting the surplus deer is unacceptable to some but it is very necessary!

Go for a walk at Enterprise South and notice the large expanses of open hardwoods with little understory. Now think poor habitat. The biological carrying capacity has probably been reached or exceeded due to taking a thriving deer herd and reducing its habitat by 50 percent.

Volkswagen and the other associated newly constructed buildings have eliminated the best habitat that was in that area. The increase in deer density in the surrounding area and pressure on habitat is extraordinary and should be reduced through archery hunts.

Social carrying capacity needs to be looked at as well as damage to residential landscapes. Deer strikes are costly problems for many residents in the surrounding area.

The automobile deer strikes alone warrant a hunt when you consider loss of human life is at stake in this game. The deer strike numbers on Interstate 75, Bonny Oaks, Hickory Valley Road and Highway 58 will probably rival those of the archery hunt, and those deer are rarely utilized by humans.

CHRIS DAFFINSON

Hixson

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