Programs helped build middle class
With deep and worsening financial inequity in our nation, I often reflect on my own life. My siblings and I grew up in a home which had little income. We managed because we all worked at an early age, and the family received Social Security. My idol, Harry Truman, said, “Never forget where you came from.” I haven’t and I thank God for the help government afforded me. To me, government was never the enemy as Ronald Reagan said. As an American history teacher, I am aware of what the Democratic presidents Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, Clinton, Carter and Obama did for our nation’s less fortunate over the last century. Some of what they gave the nation was: Social Security, Medicare, FDIC, NLRB, TVA, a 40-hour work week, an eight-hour work day, industrial safety laws, workman’s compensation, minimum wage, unemployment compensation, food stamps, AmeriCorps, the free-lunch program, Head Start, CHIP, G.I. bill, G.I loans, FHA, Department of Education, Family Leave Law, environmental laws, Civil Right’s laws, the Affordable Care Act and more. This is why I am a Democrat and a willing taxpayer.
William C. Markham Sr., Walden, Tenn.
High earners can easily back tax hike
I have paid Hamilton County property taxes for 32 years. I retired 13 years ago and haven’t had children in the school system for 30 years. If I made $190,000 per year, as I suspect Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith does, I might not be so opposed to a property tax increase.
Morris Hughes
Floor vote needed on Insure Tennessee
I met Clinton, Tenn., resident Tracy Foster last week in Nashville at the Moral Monday demonstration to ask our state legislators to bring Insure Tennessee to a vote on the floor of the General Assembly. Two years ago she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had surgery. She lost her health coverage recently. Her cancer has since returned and doctors have recommended surgery again. Tracy has spent most of her life working in the health care industry, caring for Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes. The governor’s plan would help Tracy and 280,000 low-income Tennesseans who face a “coverage gap,” many of whom work full time but don’t make enough to buy health insurance on the marketplace. When the measure was presented to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, there was little meaningful debate. When six senators voted “no,” they ruled out any chance of hope for Tracy and others like her. Her response after their decision haunts me. She told a reporter afterward, “Go home and wait to die, I guess.” I call on Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Speaker Harwell to bring this resolution to the floor of the General Assembly for a proper debate and for a vote. The people of Tennessee deserve better. Tracy deserves better.
Lenda Sherrell Monteagle, Tenn.