DEAR EDITOR:
Is this country headed down a train track that will generate jobs, lower prices at the gas pumps and grocery stores, get government spending under control, permit small businesses and entrepreneurship to flourish, and keep taxes low? The answer is a resounding no.
The devastation that is being wreaked on our nation is so contrary to our Founding Fathers as evidenced in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They believed in limited government and the rights of individuals to prosper and not be encumbered with high taxes. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Wondered if he also included millionaires and billionaires in this statement? I would surmise yes because of the founders' feelings on taxes and individual rights. James Madison believed a national revenue must be obtained, but did not want it oppressive to the constituents. The founders wanted taxes on specific "goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States." Internal taxes were frowned upon.
If this country is to get back to prosperity and free up the American spirit, there are tough choices to be made by reducing spending and government, and cease this class warfare rhetoric which is counterproductive. There needs to be a spur on the train track going to devastation and redirect it.
Benjamin Franklin stated perfectly what our leaders should keep in mind: "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course become poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."
In order to preserve the Founding Fathers' brilliant plan that made this country great, we must change the course of this train to devastation and redirect it to prosperity.
Karen Combs
Cortland