Just say ‘no thanks’

Editor:

“Tax the rich, fund the schools”… or not.

There is presently a petition drive going on to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, known as “Invest in MI kids”

The key talking point will be putting a “fair” “surcharge” on the wealthy by increasing the taxes on any earned income over $500K (single) or $1 million (marries filing jointly) and adding a billion dollars a year to education in Michigan.

Sounds great, right? Not so much. This proposed change has 3 key flaws.

1. The Michigan constitution currently prohibits a graduated income tax. This proposed amendment would remove that protection. So, right now the proponents of the proposed amendment are talking about people that make $500K or more. There will be nothing left in the constitution to prohibit adding additional graduated taxes in the future, or lowering that threshold, stifling our economy. Where will it be 10 years, 20 years from now? Who knows, but there could be a big tax increase for YOU, waiting around the next bend.

2. Most small businesses are “pass through” entities, which means that the business owner’s personal tax return reflects the business’s profit or loss. A business needs to keep money in the bank to expand, compete, innovate and be able to weather unexpected expenses. Successful small businesses (the kind that employ most people in the state) may very well show taxable income of an amount that will put them at risk of having to pay this “surcharge”, effectively more than doubling their state income tax and making it harder to stay in business. If you sign the petition or vote for this amendment, one of the jobs it costs may be your own.

3. The proposal guarantees that “100% of the money…must be expended to support classrooms in local school districts”. Why does this sound familiar? I’m old enough to remember when the same claim was made about the state lottery. And in fact that prevents a greedy legislature from pulling other monies that would have otherwise gone to the schools. Bottom line, it’s just a sneaky tax that allows the legislature to spend more money on whatever they want.

In closing, not even the Michigan Education Association (teacher’s union) is endorsing this bad proposal, so when the Pied Piper comes around saying “tax the rich to fund the schools”, just say “No thanks”.

Rick Tervo

Chassell

It is written

Editor:

Some Nations/people want YisRael to give some of their land to Palestinians so Palestinians have a “country/state” within YisRael’s borders. Gaza and the west bank belong to YisRael, not non YisRaelites, since almighty Yahuah gave it to Yacob and his posterity forever (Gen. 28:13).

Yahuah later changed Jacob’s name to YisRael (Gen. 32:28). Some nations/people condemn YisRael for Palestinian deaths in Hanas’s war against YisRael.

No civilians, it’s the wicked, Yahuah hating Palestinian hamas terrorists that are to blame for “All” deaths in hamas’s war against YisRael. Wicked hamas palestinians don’t care how many people die, YisRaelites or Palestinians, in their war to kill all YisRaellites on earth, any more than Putin cares how many Russians or Ukrainians die in Putin’s war against Ukraine.

And yes, Putin and Trump are friends! In the future, “It will come to pass in that day that I Yahuah will destroy all nations that come against YeRishalom” (Zech. 12:9). “Mankind’s Purpose on earth is to ReveRance Yahuah, and obey his mits-waws” (Torah instructions; Eccl. 12:13). “Every” religion on earth teaches ToRah disobedience, which is sin (Lev. 5;17). And yes, “ToRah is truth” (PS. 119:142), and “ToRah will be obeyed forever” (DEUT. 11:1).

Michael Davis

Clearbrook, MN

We have everything we need

To the editor:

Thank you, Mike Irish, for reminding us in your LTE Sept. 21-22 that the Iroquois Confederacy was the inspiration for our form of government, which guaranteed certain rights to the states. Our Founding Fathers tweaked the model, however, in order to accommodate the states whose economy depended on slavery.

Thank goodness our Founding Fathers expected Americans to amend our Constitution to correct mistakes in the original version. Surely the Electoral College and a system that gives every state two Senators, regardless of the state’s population, will eventually be replaced.

I believe the U.S. is in its adolescence, and like all teenagers, we Americans value our individual freedom and resist the obligations required for our local, state, and national communities. Our love of money is evident in the way we dislike taxes, even when we are represented and can vote for a system that attempts to share the burden equitably.

Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, tried to inspire us to ensure that government of, by and for the people would survive. He was speaking to Americans who were in the midst of a Civil War. Today we have unlimited opportunities to argue peacefully with each other. Because of our various means of communication, however, we can avoid having the tough conversations that are needed to work through our differences of opinion. For the future of our republic, let us resolve to engage with each other, respectfully and truthfully.

Carolyn C. Peterson

Houghton