LETTER: Businesses pay too much in taxes
Businesses pay too much in taxes
In Thursday morning's Aiken Standard our local politicians seemed surprised by more budget cuts. Roland Smith, I quote, "There's not a thing we can do about it."
Bill Clyburn: "I'm disappointed because I thought the budget would be on an upswing."
Shane Massey: "Five percent (cut) is more than needed."
When will these politicians wake up and get in the real world? This country has been in a serious recession since the fall of 2006 when we turned over the federal government to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. I'm not excusing many of the other party who surely contributed to this downfall, but the facts are since 2006 businesses have been promised nothing but more taxes, more interference and harassment. This has not only happened at the federal level but also at the state and local levels.
Ask any building contractor, any Realtor, or any small-business owner if they think the government has aided them in the past three years and I don't mean a handout. Let's take one at a time - our Aiken County School Board, Chairman Christine Harkins was quoted as saying, it's a good time to spend $150 million for our schools."
Guess who pays the highest rate of school taxes? Not parents, but your local businesses. The City Council and mayor instead of reducing taxes on businesses, continue to spend more tax money on questionable projects and more government controlled groups such as the Aiken Corporation. Our County Council instead of making this county attractive to all businesses (existing ones) are secretly giving away tax money to The X- Project. While the same thing goes on at the state level - read Sen. Ryberg's column in Thursday's Aiken Standard.
Why anybody would be surprised to learn that businesses can not supply government's insatiable appetite for more taxpayers' money is beyond my comprehension.
If our business community does not prosper, then we had better accept the fact that we will not build more schools, and cuts in government programs are just beginning.
Jet Beckum
Aiken
Retiree saddened by events at SRS
I am sure other DuPont retirees read the Dec. 13, article about Savannah River Plant in the New York Times as I did, with sadness.
Sad for those thousands of DuPont employees who built and operated the plant for almost 40 years under a unique contract initiated by a one-page letter from President Truman to DuPont President Crawford Greenwalt in 1952. A contract that specified that DuPont would build and operate the plant in accordance with their corporate standards and procedures with minimum interference from the government for a fee of one dollar for the life of the contract. DuPont wisely abandoned the contract in 1989 because of increasing "oversight" by DOE.
Since then we have watched the plant devolve through layers of inept bureaucratic "oversight" of inexperienced, profit-motivated contractors to the current level of almost comic chaos.
Certainly the plant has outlived its usefulness but it deserves a more dignified end; more retrospective respect rather than bureaucratic bickering. Respect for this historic Cold War plant; respect for those who worked effectively and safely for almost 40 years; respect for DuPont's patriotic contributions at Hanford as well as at SRP; respect for competent Atomic Energy Commission and DuPont managers and inspiring leaders like Bob Blair, Jay Monier, Nat Stetson and Julian Elliott, who knew how to work together to get the job done.
Yes, it's sad for us SRP veterans, but also a sad reflection on our times, our sense of patriotism, our culture of greed, our political climate. Sad for SRP, sad for current employees and surrounding communities, sad for our country.
Bob Garvin
SRP 1957-1991
Carlisle, Ky.
Crude behavior not party specific
The greatest attribute liberals have is to supply the rest of us with an unlimited source of political humor. The latest laugh came courtesy of Liam McGinley ("Crude Behavior A Money Maker?" on Dec. 9). His reference to a collapsing Republican tent due to crudeness is interesting because when it comes to crudeness, Democrats have no equal.
For example, President Obama claims that physicians would rather amputate a limb than write a prescription; Democrat Rep. Barton Hill sent SEIU thugs to demonstrate outside Sen. Joe Lieberman's home; SEIU thugs were sent to intimidate and beat up senior citizens at town hall meetings (one union thug bit off the finger of a protester).
There's Democrat Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee who took a personal cell phone call while answering the questions of a constituent; Democrat Barney Frank and others who belittled their constituents at town hall meetings. But the most outrageous statement was made by Democrat Rep. Alan Grayson, who said the Republican health plan care was "Don't get sick, but if you do, die quickly." Grayson also called town hall protesters "political terrorists."
So, I thank Mr. McGinley for providing me with early morning humor and assure him that if crude behavior was a moneymaker, the Democrat Party would never again have to hold a fundraiser.
Peter J. Seaha
Aiken
Suggestions for the new year
As an avid fan of an excellent local newspaper, please accept some suggestions to make 2010 better than its recent predecessors.
1. On high school sports, you do a good job of covering games after they are over, but fail to publish schedules or list today's games and times in your Game Planner section. Those kids are our future. Watching them cheer and compete is uplifting. If you do this, I think attendance will go up and they'll have even more fun.
2. Please ask the town to paint large RIGHT TURN ONLY arrows over the right lane of Silver Bluff heading south where it intersects 118. The light stays green for only five seconds and people are racing to get through after being backed up in that lane.
3. Please ad "The Wizard of Id" and "B.C." to the daily funnies. It's a smile to start the day.
4. Can I suggest that someone sponsor an event for the uninformed on PBS. Yes, a debate where contestants must refrain from interrupting and talking over each other. The contestants should be Nancy Pelosi or John Kerry vs. Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. The ratings projection alone should attract some businesses to foot the bill.
5. I'm pleased, as an actuary, to offer a new car insurance policy. The premiums are very low. One reason is that they are paid for four years before any benefits will be paid. Problem is I cannot find a State Insurance Commission in any state that would allow such a product.
And finally, I hope everyone in Aiken enjoys the holidays while they are still celebrated and that 2010 is a year where intelligent, honest, truthful and thrifty people replace our wonderfully slimy representatives in Washington - South Carolina excluded to some extent.
John Kirkman
Aiken