Readers
Reader urges Citizen: Endeavor to persevere
Thanks to Jim Williams (Monday letter, “Loss will only be felt when Citizen is gone”).
Sure hope not. I personally love the paper. Hang in!
MARGE LaROCCA
Anagram ‘scam doter’ befitting ‘Democrats’
Now I know why Democrats are quick to vote for higher taxes. They don’t intend to pay them!
Tom Daschle has stiffed the government for more than $100,000. He makes the Treasury secretary look like a piker at $35,000 of unpaid taxes.
I guess the new spelling of Democrat is “tax cheat.” Doesn’t the Obama administration check out its nominees?
Carolyn Cox
Ed plan would take us back to very basics
I have a plan for our “let’s starve education” Legislature. Instead of slowly strangling the state’s education system, why not go whole-hog and just cut all funding for education?
Close the universities (they are all commies anyway) and all other schools that depend on state funding. That way, they can balance the budget and build more jails.
They can then stop funding medical and social programs, state police and highway maintenance. That way, the only funds needed will be for their salaries, and hopefully, they will all go back to their caves and stay there, since they will be no longer needed.
Werner Zimmt
World War II veteran
How many times does math take a back seat?
Learning multiplication tables is a “fact of life” (or once was). Good for the young man pictured in the Jan. 28 Citizen moving his dirt bike up “A” Mountain as he participates in an “incentive program” at Naylor Middle School.
That is a problem. He is in middle school working on a third-grade task.
In the same section of the Citizen is a third-grade student drawing a picture of her pet cat.
There are only so many hours in the school day. I hope she has learned at least half of her multiplication tables.
M.J. Payette
retired teacher
School-donation credit eases taxing burden
Re: your Jan. 29 editorial “Cut extras in tax credits to fund basic school needs”:
Your opinion that Arizona’s school tax credit program should be suspended is myopic and just plain wrongheaded.
Education is funded by property taxes; the tax credit applies to income tax. Direct donations of funds to schools are the most efficient application of “tax dollars,” as they bypass the bureaucratic expense of government.
Without private schools, which depend on funds from this credit, the cost of education would fall to the public sector.
The public schools system would have to be expanded to accommodate increased enrollment while private schools would be underutilized, despite their superior education and more efficient cost.
So where are savings? I guess we should be thankful that editors and editorialists writing this opinion work for the Citizen. Too many with your faulty logic have already been elected to Congress!
Ken Friedman
A bit of give and take goes into tax equation
The Citizen needs to distinguish between the different school tax credits available to Arizona taxpayers.
The public-school credit does, in fact, reduce the pool of revenue for state K-12 spending.
The private school tax credit actually saves money for our state and local governments.
Each public school student costs more than $8,000 total per year. But the average private scholarship is $3,000 to $5,000.
If the government gives up $5,000 in revenue when five couples use the scholarship credit, and if the government saves $8,000 when a child uses a $5,000 scholarship to go to private school, the government has saved $3,000. (Best of all, that child improves chances of getting a high-quality education.)
If anything, the budget deficit is a reason to expand the tax credit.
Tom Jenney
Arizona director
Americans for Prosperity
Bring the money home, not to House
Re: the Jan. 31 editorial (“Guidelines needed for state’s use of stimulus funds”):
Whoa, who in the world believes all wisdom resides in our elected, professional politicians? Can a few in Washington really make better decisions than the people who pay taxes?
If they are so smart, how can you explain the $56 trillion in unfunded liabilities for congressionally established entitlement programs?
We are drowning in debt and they propose another trillion and you think they are smart!
Rebate taxes paid last year, spread the spending decisions among millions, let them decide what suits them the best. The state will benefit from higher tax receipts.
Can’t take that? Provide 4 percent home loans for qualified buyers and clear the housing market of overhang.
By all means add some billions to help people unemployed needing a hand up – but don’t call it stimulus.
The wisdom of our House representatives is less than stellar.
Monty Brown