Editor, The Transcript:
I am not one the "fat cats feeding at the health insurance trough," but I feel constrained to answer Larry Steele's letter in last Sunday's Transcript ("More Power to Pelosi.") I am, figuratively speaking, a skinny cat feeding at the Social Security and Medicare troughs. I did not enter into either of these programs voluntarily: I had made other plans, but they were obviated by the U.S. Congress. So I, a supposedly "free" citizen, am held in thrall by a government that forces other supposedly "free" people to pay for my benefits.
Beside the issue of personal freedom is the simple facts that neither of these programs are sustainable. At some point in the foreseeable future, benefits must be drastically reduced, the payroll taxes must be substantially raised or both. The only other possible outcomes are to print more paper dollars, renege on the programs or kill all the old people.
Mr. Steele says that, "(House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi is leading a wave of change to help the uninsured get insurance so that the rest of us don't have to keep paying for their emergency room visits with our increased premiums and deductibles." Does he truly believe that having the government pay somehow shifts this burden from the rest of us? Maybe he agrees with those who say," "Don't tax you. Don't tax me. Tax that feller behind the tree."
I'd also like to respond to his slur against Fox News: The Fox News Channel has well-balanced news programs, but they should be distinguished from the opinion shows on the same channel. To find out what has happened, I read The Transcript, watch various news shows (including portions of Fox News) and cruise the Internet. To find out what's going to happen, I watch Glenn Beck. He may be far right, but he's right so far.
LARRY IOVAN
Slaughterville
Letters
A 'skinny cat' speaks out
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Gov. Fallin’s tax plan is one big mistake
Editor, The Transcript: Well, it’s official now. In her State of the State message, Gov. Fallin confirmed that she hopes to reduce the state income tax now and totally eliminate it later. Big mistake, for two compelling reasons....
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Another Library Vote? Good grief!
Editor, The Transcript A new library on the west side? With hardly any books? With a dumb name above the entry as shown in your rendering? Infoplace? The library bureaucracy must think Norman voters just fell off the turnip truck....
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Eliminating state taxes places burden on poor
Editor, The Transcript: Your editorial on Feb. 8th that expressed your pleasure that the bill by Jim Wilson that would have removed the sales tax exemptions from newspapers was killed in committee was disconcerting. I can agree that the ...
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Not time to experiment with state taxes
Editor, The Transcript Governor Fallin proposed more cuts to the state income tax in her State of the State speech Feb. 6. This comes on the heels of a House Tax Reform Task Force that also proposed phasing out the state income tax over a ...
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Local investment is better for Norman
Editor, The Transcript Americans from all walks of life and political ideologies are asserting their voice to tell Wall Street “Enough is enough!” Occupy Norman members spoke at the Dec. 13 Norman City Council meeting, urging the city to ...
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Decline in unions harmful to economy
Editor, The Transcript Remember sometimes you get what your ask for? Let’s see, what could that be? I know, destroy those evil unions which are compromised of the middle class....
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Independent group needed
Editor, The Transcript: I wanted to write a letter a long time ago, but Ms. Rogers’ letter claiming that “Chromium levels in the water shouldn’t cause alarm” pushed me over the edge. As an environmental professional in Oklahoma, I have ...
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Obamacare is socialist nightmare
Editor, The Transcript: And now for the rest of the story… “Obamacare, Another Entitlement Nightmare.” The recent St. Louis Post Dispatch editorial reprint illustrates the sophistry that characterizes the liberal mindset now grasping the ...
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Pipeline not really that great
Editor, The Transcript: This responds to the letter from Bruce Kessler, which was printed in The Norman Transcript on Monday, Jan. 30. The letter makes plain that Bruce Kessler opposes President Barack Obama’s decision to block the ...
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Not economic suicide for all
Editor, The Transcript: The commentary “Avoiding a catastrophic war with Iran” published in the Norman Transcript on Jan. 21 made a worrisome observation: “Another war would destroy America’s painful recovery from the indebtedness of two ...
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Gov. Fallin’s tax plan is one big mistake
