To the Editor:

Christopher Murray,
Your letter regarding your view of Conservatives does not even deserve a response except to say that I believe it was the most hateful and ignorant letter I have ever read.

Julie Vice
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 24, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

Some people who would like to replace our Income Tax with a—much fairer- consumption tax, suggest the VAT. After all, the Value Added Tax is very common in Europe and the usual system of taxation in most advanced nations of the world. So shouldn’t the U.S. adopt a tried and tested system rather than introduce a totally innovative—revolutionary some would say-system such as the FairTax (FT)? After all, both are consumption taxes, true. But there the similarity ends. Let us make three comparisons:
1. VAT— At each step of production and manufacturing, the various merchants (businesses) increase the cost to cover the taxes they owe. The final price (which includes all the increases) is paid by you—the consumer.
FT— There is no business-to-business tax. (Goodbye paperwork!) The end product is taxed once by the retailer and paid once by you—the consumer.
2. VAT— is a hidden tax
FT— is printed right on the sales receipt. (Transparency)
3. VAT— Easy to increase, almost without anyone noticing. Presently the highest VAT is levied in Hungary where it constitutes 27 percent of the final price.
FT— Hard to increase: The FT bill HR-25 specifies 23 percent. To increase the FT above 23 percent would take an Act of Congress. Also, it would increase the taxes of every single consumer in the U.S. (Quite a challenge for Congress).
Now that you understand the difference between the VAT and the FT, which do you like better?            

Carroll B. Simpson
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 24, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

Your article about Albert Goudelock and his family travels was a breath of fresh air. In this era of gloom and doom and negative stories it is refreshing to hear about families that share their time together.

I first met Albert when we returned to Madison in 1989. He is a delightful person with a wonderful smile and a warm spirit.  It was always a pleasure to chat with him when I had shoes or other leather goods to be mended. However, I was not aware of his travels. Being a person who has traveled around the world it has been my pleasure to know this kindred spirit. So travel on Albert– the best is yet to come!
Sincerely,

Paul Gilmore
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 17, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

    Who’s more likely to be overly concerned about oppression, the oppressor or the oppressee? Those who are in the business of controlling and policing for the benefit of the privileged and powerful spend more time complaining about being oppressed than all the people they themselves have spent a lifetime oppressing. They spend every waking hour terrified that something or someone is going to come along and turn the tables on them and level the playing field. That something is called elections and that someone is called President Obama.
    It is the stuff status-gouda nightmares are made of. So it’s no surprise that people like Fred Johnson is having nightmares about runaway horses with no reins and a government intent on income redistribution and strangling the free enterprise system with rules and regulations.
    Those who’ve been in the position of telling everybody else what to do are the last people on earth who wanted to be told what to do! But there is such a thing as turnabout is fair play and you reap what you sow. So if your children and grandchildren suffer it’s because of the sin of your own greed and abuse of power, not because of Obama. We have no sympathy for politics only serving the will of capitalism and not the people. So sweet dreams all you Obama haters out there. Looks like you’re going to need them.

Christopher Murray
Madison
Hand-delivered

Printed in the January 17, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

The Gun Control Act of 1968 states that anyone involuntarily committed or adjudicated a “mental defective” is barred from buying or possessing firearms. However, many States do not share their mental health records.
In the United States V. Rehlander, the First Circuit Court suggests there is a serious limit on the ability to keep guns away from people who lack the capacity to handle them. The court strongly suggest that mentally ill individuals must be allowed to carry guns until they receive a fairly elaborate hearing declaring them unfit to use a gun. With a Federal law that was passed in 1968, States that do not share information on mental health records, and courts that make rulings that follow their beliefs rather than the law, it appears people that suffer from mental problems “fall through the crack.”
In the latest statistics I’ve found, there were 12,318 reported deaths that were attributed to DUI drivers in the recorded year. There were 37,485 people that had drug overdoses or brain damage linked to long-term drug abuse. Figures from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System indicates 1,321 children died as a result of abuse and/or neglect.
If Ms. Murray’s line of reasoning is followed, automobiles, unprescribed drugs, and parents should be banned, rather than putting the blame on the driver, user, and abuser where it belongs.
Guns do not perform these horrific acts, the person pulling the trigger does. The blame should be placed squarely on the person.

Ruth Poole
Rutledge
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 3, 2013 edition

To the Editor:

On behalf of Hand in Hand Ministries, Inc., I would like to thank everyone involved in making our fifth annual Festival of Trees fundraiser possible. First of all, thank you Morgan County Citizen for placing the F.O.T. flyer and article about Hand in Hand Ministries in the paper the week of the Tour of Homes. Thanks also go to Burns Warfield, Chick-fil-A of Madison, for his in-store Christmas tree silent auction and donation of calendars. I also thank Madison FUMC for allowing us to have our F.O.T in the beautiful Wesley Building foyer and to the Sunday School classes and youth groups, Methodist and Presbyterian, who donated trees and/or monetary gifts. I also appreciate the donations made by the MOMS Club of Madison, United Bank, Pagett & Whetzel Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Breco Realty and Madison Studios. I thank the patrons who attended our F.O.T., and, last, but not least, the Hand in Hand Ministries’ board members who donated their ideas, energy and time during this busy time of year.
For more information on Hand in Hand Ministries, Inc., or to make a donation, please visit our website at: www.handinhandministries.com.

Bonnie Mason,
Secretary-Treasurer
Hand in Hand Ministries, Inc.
Via e-mail

Printed in the December 13, 2012 edition