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Overspending, not tax cuts, created the deficit

I am wondering if people like Robert S. Rucker ("No civilization without taxation," Nov. 26 letter) who insult Republicans and berate tax cuts or the news media who dutifully report Democrats bemoaning tax cuts even bother to look at facts?

I am no economist, but a review of IRS and OMB Web sites returned the following information. According to the Heritage Foundation, "The economy has boomed since the 2003 tax cuts leading to the highest level of corporate tax receipts in over 20 years. Since WWII, tax receipts have averaged 18 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Tax receipts in 2005 surpassed the 60 year average and are expected to rise in future years."

How can revenue rise if the evil rich and corporations are getting tax cuts? The answer is simple: Individuals and corporations invest dollars that would have gone to pay higher taxes. Those investments generate more taxable revenue.

The deficit is due to out-of-control spending, not tax cuts. Cut the pork in the budget; don't hurt the economy by raising taxes.

The top 10 percent income earners pay 68 percent of all federal taxes. You had better hope we have more millionaires to pay those taxes.

If I can find this information, why can't newspapers?

Walkers: Face traffic for safer passage

The article about safety on Nov. 13, "Playing in the dark," was informative and interesting.

The one suggestion that I think helps the most to keep walkers safe is in the Virginia state code. The code says that when pedestrians travel on roadways without sidewalks, they shall keep to the extreme left side or edge of the road.

I interpret this to say, "Walk on the left facing oncoming traffic." This common-sense idea and law makes sense because it allows the pedestrians and drivers to see each other and adjust their positions in the road if needed. Safety awareness is increased when the walker and the driver exchange a smile and/or a wave. What a nice bonus.

I was not sure that this was a law until recently, but obeying this rule was not an option when I was a youngster walking all around town in Cambria.

My parents insisted I walk on the left. I stayed safe, waved and smiled at most people, and had a great time doing it. Try it sometime; you might like it.

Times forgets local soldiers are in Iraq

Re: Black Friday, front page: "Military even outsources Thanksgiving" (Nov. 23 article):

As I began reading, I thought to myself, finally some coverage in the The Roanoke Times of our 250 local National Guard soldiers stationed at Camp Speicher, Iraq. But to my dismay, there was no mention of our self-sacrificing soldiers in the article.

Oh, how I miss John Cramer's coverage and how he would personalize our soldiers' service at the end of national news articles printed in The Times.

So in the absence of Cramer, I would like to inform those interested readers that our local soldiers in harm's way did receive their Thanksgiving dinner along with appetizers and desserts. The only thing missing from the tables were the families.

Each service member waited in line more than an hour to call home and wish us a Happy Thanksgiving. E-mails were sent and received. Packages were opened. Digitized photos floated through time and space, connecting families and reuniting loved ones. Everyone was thankful that their soldiers were alive and well.

I, along with every member of 1st Battalion, 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and their families say, "thank you, neighbors" for your cards, gifts and prayers.

Officials? Yes. Leaders? No way.

Re: Robert R. Craig's letter "City leaders let veterans down" (Nov. 23):

He knows, but does not say, that the two gents referred to are not leaders. They occupy space, absorb heat and impede progress.

Craig might care to realize two salient facts of life in Roanoke. Veterans are regarded like ticks and fleas, things of nature, another disease. And the two gents referred to constitute a veritable living evidence that good men don't seek public office.

As a resident Roanoke native for 82 years, I've seen 'em all.

Reasons aplenty to test Washington's faith

In her letter "Do not doubt the faith of our country's father" (Nov. 22), Gail T. Lambert wrote that George Washington was "beyond reasonable doubt a Christian." I'm afraid that is clearly not the case.

While his wife Martha was a communicant, Washington was conspicuously not; he attended church with his wife but would leave before the communion, sending the carriage back later to pick up his wife. When the pastor, Rev. Abercrombie, noted that this set a bad example, Washington took to absenting himself entirely on communion Sundays.

He spent a large part of his life attending churches presided over by either Abercrombie or by Bishop William White, and both have written in their letters and memoirs that Washington never took communion. Abercrombie was definite in his belief that Washington was a deist.

Many hopeful Christians have tried to obtain evidence that Washington was a believer in Christianity and have not found any; there is no mention of Jesus in any of Washington's letters or speeches. For historical sources and references, see the article by John Remsburg at the site below:

www.infidels.org/library/historical/john_remsburg/six_historic_americans/chapter_3.html.

Windmills won't destroy mountaintops

Some people think windmills are ugly, but don't you think that windmills on a mountaintop are prettier than the top of the mountain torn off to reach a coal seam? High-voltage transmission towers are ugly but have spread across the land over the past 100 years, and everyone has gotten used to them. We could get used to windmills too.

Forty thousand wind turbines along the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains would give enough power for all the Atlantic states, and allow all coal power plants to be shut down. Wind power costs less than coal power, and costs would not go up every time oil prices go up, as coal power does. Plus, wind makes no air, water or soil pollution.

Tales of wind turbines killing birds and bats are greatly exaggerated. An occasional bird may fly into a turbine blade, but they also fly into picture windows, high-rises and bridges. Bats fly between tree limbs. Doesn't it seem reasonable that they could dodge a wind turbine blade going one revolution per minute?

All the lawsuits to stop wind farms just increase the cost of electricity and hold up development. Enough, already.

Struggling for effective communication

Worldwide conditions leave little to laugh about in our time. The comics are out for us aging, squinty-eyed guys because the type is too small. So I read the editorial page first each morning. I can generally count on it to start my day with a smile.

In Glenn Ayers' letter "Just who are these respected scientists?" (Nov. 24), he complains that in her commentary "Even ExxonMobil acknowledges warming risk" (Nov. 13), Diana Christopulos doesn't name the scientists or group of scientists who support her point of view. She states that in accepting money from corporations, scientists like Dr. Fred Singer work for them. Ayers states that Christopulos "needs to know that scholars, particularly researchers, accept grants from many sources . ... "

What sources? She is expected to name sources and Ayers is not?

These are both fine Americans who are anxious to talk about problems facing the world. The effort to do that is frequently amusing as we toy with the art of effective communication.