To the editor:

Reading Dolph Simons’ column in Saturday’s paper reminds me why I’m not a conservative and why we should always look at the facts, not the spin. In his article he postulates that by 2012, 50 percent of Americans could pay no federal taxes and have free health care. Obviously for him this is bad. Counting on free handouts from the government is a definite no-no. Wait a minute, free handouts; can you say billions of dollars to financial institutions with no apparent accountability?

So let’s introduce some interesting statistics relevant to our discussion. In the past 20 years the top 20 percent of income-earners have seen a 43 percent increase in income while the bottom 20 percent have seen a 9 percent decline. The top 20 percent make more than the rest of us put together. The top 40 percent make 72 percent of the income. The top 10 percent own 96 percent of the net worth of personal wealth. What’s my point? My point is the bottom 50 percent need all their income to keep their heads above water. Universal health care not only benefits the bottom 50 percent but also gives American companies help in competing internationally against companies in countries who already have universal health care.

Tell you what, give me $200,000 a year with a 40 percent federal tax rate and I’ll try to survive on the $10,000 a month I have left. Sign me up, I’ll make the sacrifice.

Randy Supernaw,
Perry