letters to the editor

If there is no discernible voter fraud in the United States, why then are many states pushing for restrictive measures and passing legislation, including Massachusetts, that make it more difficult for people to vote?  Is this a rhetorical question asked because you can figure out the answer?

Seven states this year have passed laws requiring strict photo ID to vote, and similar measures were introduced in 27 other states. More than 21 million citizens — 11 percent of the population — do not have government ID cards. Many of them are poor, or elderly, or black and Hispanic and could have a hard time navigating the bureaucracy to get a card... Other states are beginning to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote, or are finding other ways to make it harder to register...In all cases, they are abusing the trust placed in them by twisting democracy’s machinery to partisan ends.  [Full Editorial: The New York Times]

Paul Krugman writes - class warfare, says who?  We benefit from participating in this society in which the government is at its center; the wealthy could not have garnered its wealth without being part of this society.  They clearly have benefited greater than the lower and middle class folks.

... big cuts in top income tax rates,...there has been a major shift of taxation away from wealth and toward work: tax rates on corporate profits, capital gains and dividends have all fallen, while the payroll tax — the main tax paid by most workers — has gone up.   According to new estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, one-fourth of those with incomes of more than $1 million a year pay income and payroll tax of 12.6 percent of their income or less, putting their tax burden below that of many in the middle class.  [Full OpEd: The New York Times]

In Kevin C. Peterson's letter to Governor Patrick, Mr. Peterson makes an appeal to end the practice of packing and cracking, which suppresses the political expression of racial minorities.  Now is the time, before the redistricting plan is finalized, to be intentional and just in incorporating legislation that engages all people in the political process.

...the Commonwealth must employ a moral logic of redistricting that seeks to achieve the broadest range of civic opportunities in the state; it must commit to an effort of civic realignment that takes seriously the goal of individual freedom and equality, especially for groups that have been the most adversely impacted during past redistricting cycles. [Full Article: CommonWealth Magazine]

This editorial explores the consequences of reducing the funding for free flu vaccines...it's not only about the dollars saved for having less vaccines available; there's an even larger economic cost.  Are we being penny wise and pound foolish?

Investment in free vaccination saves lives and greatly reduces the economic toll of the flu in terms of lost hours of productivity, income, and sales. Tough economic times only make it more important for the state to be sure that its budgetary priorities provide the broadest benefit for the greatest numbers of people .  [Full Editorial: The Boston Globe]

Casinos in Massachusetts - may be a foregone conclusion if leadership in the State House has its way.  But is this the way to achieve fiscal stability for the Commonwealth as some would have us believe?  Is this strategy working to achieve budget surpluses (or balanced  budgets vs. budget deficits ) in New Jersey or Nevada?  Even Connecticut isn't showing great financial rewards from gambling.  What will happen to total revenue when there's more competition in New England?  Then there's the additional cost of the health and safety issues of gambling...

Gambling revenue  ...erodes a fundamental idea of democracy: that we’re all in this together. Instead of all people contributing equitably to the common good, a casino economy fractures the social compact. And it asks the most from those who can afford it least.   [Full Op-Ed:  The Boston Globe]

Here's a twist on the tax discussion...raise the taxes on those least able to pay (more) and who are currently paying the highest percentage of income in taxes.  This political platform may get a candidate more corporate contributions, but as we know, corporations aren't people and they don't vote.  Think about it...who earns the money that's not being contributed/taxed at the similar percentage of income basis to pay for the programs and services that we all depend and rely upon on a daily basis?

The moral argument would have been obvious before this polarized year. Nearly 90 percent of the families that paid no income tax make less than $40,000, most much less...At a time when high-income households are paying their lowest share of federal taxes in decades, when corporations frequently avoid paying any tax, it is clear who should bear a larger burden and who should not . [Full Editorial: The New York Times]

There seems to be a disconnect in our country.  We don't understand (or dare I say, appreciate) that it was federal agencies - FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s , that helped save lives and protect property during this latest natural disaster Hurricane Irene.  If we continue to let Congress reduce funding of these necessary agencies, lives and communities will be destroyed...literally.

Tea Partyers who denounce Big Government seem to have an abstract notion that government spending means welfare programs and bloated bureaucracies. Almost certainly they aren’t thinking about hurricane tracking and pre-positioning of FEMA supplies. But if they succeed in paring the government, ... may be surprised to discover that they have turned a Hurricane Irene government back into a Katrina government.  [Full Article: The Washington Post]

There's a struggle in our country about immigration.  Without a comprehensive, thoughtful national immigration policy, individual states are drafting their own legislation...some more egregious than others.  Alabama legislature and the Governor have the dubious distinction of being the leader in passing and signing the cruelest immigration law in our country.  Most importantly though, people in Alabama are protesting this horrible legislation and have sued to block it.

Just how bad is this legislation.  Not only it is a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in Alabama, but Americans are not spared.  Anyone knowingly “concealing, harboring or shielding” an illegal immigrant could be charged with a crime, say for renting someone an apartment or driving her to church or the doctor.   [Full Editorial:  The New York Times]

If we started with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one would expect that by 2011 we should have made voting accessible to everyone and it would not still be a big issue.  Unfortunately, many states are going backwards in voting rights and voting access to restricting or even, by consequence of their legislation, to disenfranchising groups of voters.  Even here, a Mansfield Selectman is seeking to change the voting laws for Massachusetts, requiring all voters to show I.D. before they can vote.

While defending its photo ID law before the Supreme Court, Indiana was unable to cite a single instance of actual voter impersonation at any point in its history. Likewise, in Kansas, there were far more reports of U.F.O. sightings than allegations of voter fraud in the past decade. [Full Op-Ed: New York Times]

Budget and deficit reduction decisions in Washington, DC have substantive (and potentially harmful) consequences for local cities and towns, not only in the current year but for decades.  It now seems that some in Congress now want to play "chicken" with the transportation department as part of the deficit reduction debate.  We need to stay informed and engaged with this issue...

Federal transportation policy shapes, in a profound way, the way Americans connect to their communities and to the economy. When the feds get it right, cities flourish. And when they get it wrong, the consequences can last for decades.   [Full Op-Ed: The Boston Globe]