System can be made solvent
Social Security taxes and policies must be addressed fully and truthfully. The economic situation of most working families is too stressed for any more misinformation. There are three ways to make the system solvent.
First and worst: Raise the tax. Wages are subject to a payroll tax of 6.2 percent. Workers earning $30,000 per year pay this tax on
Second: Raise the amount of wages subject to the payroll tax. If those who earn over $102,000 paid the tax on more of their wages, the system would be more solvent, and the tax burden more fair. Democrats prefer this solution.
Third and best: Repeal the Unified Federal Budget law. When the Social Security system was established, its taxes went into trust funds that were used only to pay trust fund benefits. The trusts were flush. Had they been left alone, there would be no shortage. I believe it was 1974 when Congress first raided the trusts, “unified” payroll taxes with other federal revenues, and spent the trusts on foreign aid, war, oil company subsidies, bailing out investment firms and banks, subsidizing “tax cuts.” Responsible? In 1974, and in 66 percent of the years since, Republican presidents have set the agenda.
Repeal would save our social safety nets, including Social Security, aid for poor children, workers comp, and benefits for survivors and disabled workers. “Privatizing” would end the whole concept; the “invest your money yourself” mantra is meaningless for most. The trusts were created as social insurance for American workers. They are worth fighting to restore.
Claire L. Kelly, Stevensville
McCain is just more of the same
I filled my gas tank a couple of days ago. I must have been feeling wealthy to go for a whole tank, but by the time the hose clicked off I was down nearly $50. I don’t drive a Hummer or a big SUV. I drive a little 1999 Pontiac Grand Am with a four-cylinder engine.
The next day, I got a notice from NorthWestern Energy that my budget billing amount is going to increase by $43 per month - in spite of our investment in a tankless water heater and better insulation.
For eight years, we’ve suffered a “leader” who is in bed with the oil companies. Yes, the oil companies that keep claiming record-breaking profits while working Americans have to park their cars, and decide between heat and groceries this winter. I can’t afford any more of politics as usual.
I see John McCain as more of the same. He jumped at the chance to mock Barack Obama for his very practical suggestion to properly inflate tires to improve gas mileage, then had to admit that it was sound advice.
I’m going to vote for Obama, and I hope that other voters who want to see some real changes and positive thinking put into action will do the same.
In the short term, Obama plans to enact a windfall profit tax on the oil companies, using the money to give immediate emergency energy rebates to middle-class families and to close the loopholes that allow speculators to drive up oil prices.
Obama also has a 10-year plan to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. He plans to raise fuel economy standards, get American-built hybrids on the road, and promote responsible domestic natural gas and oil production, just to mention a few of his plans.
So, I hope that undecided voters take the time to go to the Obama Web site, see what he’s all about and add their voice to mine.
Helen Redli, Missoula
Obama book written by paranoid bigot
It appears that right-wing extremists are once again attempting to impact our presidential election by spreading lies about the Democratic nominee. While there has been media coverage in recent days regarding the Jerome Corsi book on Barack Obama debuting at No. 1, deception is afoot. The Aug. 12 issue of the New York Times states that “the book is being pushed along by a large volume of bulk sales.” This alone tells me that those who do not want to see Obama in the White House and have made millions on the backs of ordinary Americans are buying this rubbish in mass quantities to affect sales figures and distort the truth yet again.
Average Americans have embraced the Obama message of positive change and working together to move our country away from the failed policies of the current administration. Corsi is a bigot who is simply rehashing the same lies that have been circling the Internet for years. His co-authoring of the book on John Kerry in 2004 gives evidence of his “make money at all costs” approach. While the book is said to be authored by veterans, Corsi, in fact, did not serve in any branch of the U.S Armed Forces. Even his co-author, John O’Neill, tried to minimize Corsi’s involvement in the book when some of Corsi’s outrageously bigoted comments against Catholics came to light in 2004. A bit of basic research disproves most of what Corsi purports. He simply spews hate and lies in an attempt to dupe the American people.
If you want to know the truth about Obama, please do not trust this paranoid and hateful man, Jerome Corsi. Our country needs a moral, intelligent, honest, caring and compassionate leader. Obama is such a man and I, for one, will not stand by and not speak the truth. That is more than Jerome Corsi can say for himself.
Melissa Sundberg, Stevensville
Patients need a place to worship
As a volunteer for the Montana State Hospital Chapel Project, I realized how most of us take our freedom for granted when it comes to access to our local churches, sweat houses, synagogues or chapels in private hospitals. Most Montanans take for granted our church facility will be there when we need to find a place to worship or find fellowship in a peaceful, spiritual setting.
Most Montanans do not realize that for the 700-plus people the Montana Psychiatric State Hospital serves throughout the year, there is no church, no chapel, no synagogue, no sweat lodge or designated chapel building that 189-plus patients can go to worship in. Most Montanans do not realize that some of our family members are there for long durations, without visitors, and would love a place of refuge to go worship - a sacred space apart from daily routines on their units and treatment rooms. Prayer and worship are key stabilizing factors in our patients’ struggles with mental illness. Our patients are some of the most hidden and voiceless members of society. They are Montanans who receive the last and least.
If you would like to know more about the Montana State Hospital Chapel Project or make a donation toward the Chapel Project, please contact Montana State Hospital, MSH Chapel Project, P.O. Box 300, Warm Springs, MT 59756, or call Patti Jacques at (406) 431-3245 or Cristi Boyd at (406) 693-7024. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.
Patti Jacques, Helena
Get rid of 'Get Fuzzy,’ 'Pearls’
I am sure there are more important issues I could address, such as how the county commissioners like to spend money on consultants for the future of the fairgrounds (as if the community hasn’t already told them what to do) or how the Missoula City Council needs to improve their listening skills when it comes to cuts in the city budget (didn’t the financial office tell them department heads had already cut a million or so out of the budget?). But I want to address one of the few daily enjoyments of most readers: the daily comics found in the Missoulian.
Of course, every editor has the right to choose whatever comic entertainment they wish to regale us with but, excuse me, I guess it must be “Pearls Before Swine” or I must already be “Get Fuzzy” - for neither of these so-called comic strips tickle my fancy, stimulate my intellect or even appeal to my sense of humor. I would respectfully ask for the comics to return to their original purpose: to entertain and occasionally inform. I am sure that with a little research the editor can find comic strips with a bit more humor and less silliness.
Karen Reynolds, Missoula
Why must public pay for the damage?
I am writing this in response to the Aug. 14 article by John Cramer on the subject of seeding Mount Sentinel after the July 9 wildfire.
I spent a number of years with the U.S. Forest Service. Some of those years were in law enforcement. There were perpetrators who caused damage to the forests. Those who stole fire wood without permits. Those who dumped their garbage on forest land. When the perpetrators or those in charge of the perpetrators were charged for their acts, they were subject to fine or restitution. It was made public how, who and when the July 9 fire on Mount Sentinel started.
My question is, who was in charge of the perpetrator(s)? Why is the general public asked to pay for the damage? Was no legal action taken?
Fritz Rose, Lolo
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