Free economy boosts prosperity
In late June, I wrote a letter that attributed the rise of West Germany after World War II to its embrace of laissez faire capitalism. Several people responded with the charge that I "forgot" the Marshall Plan.
In fact, Marshall funds never comprised more than 5 percent of West Germany's economy, not nearly enough to account for its rapid rise.
The letter writers made sundry other claims, including the demonstrably false one that America's no-elite worked for "peasant wages" under Republican presidents. To take one example to the contrary, when Ronald Reagan was in office, the number of people in poverty fell, while average yearly wages for all workers, not just the rich, increased.
What all of these writers failed to address was this: As a matter of history, the freer a country's economy, the more prosperous the country. Today's U.S. is a prime example. Since about 2006, government spending has been out of control, private institutions have been semi-nationalized, new taxes imposed and regulations tightened.
The result? Almost 10 percent unemployment, a jittery stock market, and debt and deficits that threaten to consume us.
If this is the glory of a planned economy, I'll take my chances in the free market.
BEN M. WOLK
Fort Oglethorpe
A little math shows how economy works
Here is some simple math for those who just can't figure it out:
Approximately two-thirds of those "evil" rich people the libs want to raise taxes on are small-business owners. Translated, the people who provide most of us jobs.
I can't speak for everyone, but I've never been offered a job by a poor person. That said, logic would indicate if you reduce taxes, or keep tax cuts in place for those "evil" rich people (a.k.a. business owners), their businesses would have more free money to hire more employees. This is called job creation. Creating jobs means more people working. More people working means more spending. More spending creates even more jobs at Best Buy, Target, Walmart etc., not to mention money spent and jobs created by folks building or remodeling their homes and such.
Now here's the interesting part, the more people working, the less unemployment and welfare the government (a.k.a. we, the people) pay out. Plus the government takes in even more money from payroll taxes from all these new workers.
All of this "magically" helps reduce our deficit - providing this administration quits spending it faster than they take it in.
Weird how this works, huh?
CHUCK PARHAM
Rossville
Class-action filers worse than oil scum
The oil scum pollution of the Gulf Coast is no match for the legal counterpart scrambling to file class- action lawsuits.
JOHN ROSE
Signal Mountain
Send a message: Reject Democrats
The upcoming elections are very important to all of us for although we must wait until 2012 to vote President Obama out, we can start by voting out his Democrat majority. Just remember, this bunch voted in Obama-Care even though 70 percent of the American public opposed it.
At the same time, Washington politicians kept the government Cadillac health care plan for themselves. Evidently ObamaCare wasn't good enough for them. Do you sense creation of an upper class here? They ignored the public outcry and followed the party line. The economy is in the worst shape it's ever been in and we will go further in debt once ObamaCare is implemented.
Obama likes to deflect blame for the bad economy on Bush policies, but BIOB (blame it on Barrack). Also worth mentioning is the Democrat heavy-handed approach toward implementation of constitutional requirements that makes we wonder what third world country we're in. The Democrats use the Constitution only when it benefits their cause. This is the worst bunch of liberals to ever hit Washington and we need to let them know. Stay on point, stay on subject. Do the research. We need to send a message
PAUL R. PEPI
Overturn decision on campaign gifts
Citizens United is a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court giving corporations First Amendment rights and allowing them to contribute unlimited amounts of money to any political campaign they choose. This decision will allow political groups to use corporate money to spread misinformation and air attack ads, right up to election day. There is nothing more devastating to the public interest than to allow corporations - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections.
The Citizen United decision will take political power away from individuals, undermine our democracy, and gives a major victory to big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and other powerful interests.
Powerful interests lobby every day to drown out the voices of average middle- and working-class Americans.
To add another kick to the head of the average citizen, corporations have instructed their corporate lawyers to explore the possibility of keeping the corporate shell free from such things as antitrust laws and environmental laws, now that they have been given "personhood" and the same equality as ordinary American citizens.
Citizen United must be overturned or narrowed by congressional legislation. It is a threat to our democracy.
GARY HOLLAND
Dalton, Ga.
Business location not in a good place
City of East Ridge, instead of locating your "adult oriented" businesses between Camp Jordan Park and the new Costco, you should put more adult stores and new strip clubs smack in the middle of town! Maybe then, the fine citizens might just petition such businesses out.
By the way, take exit 1, Ringgold Road W., turn right at the tattoo parlor and "adult oriented" shop. You will find my elementary school on the right a few blocks down.
SUSAN S. WARREN
Ringgold, Ga.
Obama opponents need to face facts
Why do the people who are supposed to be "intellectual" not accept the financial crisis conditions this nation was in at the time President Obama won the presidency and realize what he needs to do to prevent the 2007 U.S. recession from developing into a deep depression?
The Republican politicians had been denying a recession was occurring in 2007, but all of a sudden in 2008, the Bush administration needed $700 billion of borrowed tax money to "bail out" the mismanaged financial systems, which would have had worldwide financial repercussions if they did not stay solvent.
Even with the $700 billion bailout of the failed financial systems in September 2008, the "damage" from the deep recession had already started in 2007.
In addition, the total national debt was already up to $11 trillion, the accumulated trade deficit is up to the hundreds of billion dollars, unemployment is high, we are in two wars, etc.
Do the anti-Obama people want this nation to be in a deep depression? If not, then why are they opposing Obama from spending the money needed to prevent a deep depression? Jobs are needed now.
CARL BRACKIN
Georgetown, Tenn.