GOP Plan: Middle Class Swings in the Wind
The election showed one thing if nothing else: The American voters are not selfish and self-serving.
They voted for a Republican Congress with a Republican agenda. And if the tax proposal put forth by Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, is any indication, then the average voter certainly didn't vote for his/her best interest.
The Republican tax plan will allow the rich to get richer, the poor to get poorer, while the middle class swings in the wind.
Of the nine points of the Republican tax plan, six clearly favor only the rich, two help the middle class and the rich, while only one item has dubious value for the poor.
Here is my analysis:
* Cut capital gains: President Bush kept saying that the majority of people who used capital gains on their tax returns were middle-class taxpayers.
True, but not for stocks and investments in business. Most of the middle class took a capital gain or loss on the sale of their home.
* With the downturn in the real estate market, people who sell their home within seven years usually have a capital loss, not a gain. Just remember that if the capital gain tax is cut, the capital loss deduction is also cut.
If you lose money on the sale of your home, then your deduction for that loss will be cut 70 percent under the Republican tax plan.
* $500-per-child income tax credit: A family of five needed an income of $27,950 in 1993 to qualify.
* Marriage penalty phase-out: This would help most two-income families but doesn't say much for family values, a Republican watchword since Murphy Brown.
* Increased earnings and repeal of tax increase for wealthier Social Security beneficiaries: Clearly benefits the rich, but it does go contrary to the Republicans' desire to limit entitlements.
* Reinstate IRAs for persons earning more than $50,000 a year: The rationale is to encourage savings and to promote investments. If savings and investments are the goal, why not get some of the poor people's money?
Shouldn't the thrift-minded, low-income person be given a break?
* Tax-free "Medisave" health care account: The Republicans' answer to health care -- eliminate the Reagan tax reform requirement that medical expenses must exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.
* Generous write-offs for business equipment: American executives are the highest paid in the world, taxes in the United States are the lowest in all industrial countries and labor costs are lower here than in Japan, Germany and Sweden. Why does American business need another tax break?
* Tax breaks for oil and gas: Now I understand why most Republicans didn't vote for the Clean Air Act. When most of the world is trying to eliminate byproducts of fossil fuels, the Republicans encourage them. How about a tax break for solar energy?
* Raise estate tax exemption by $150,000: Just another perk for the rich.
Representative Archer also wants to go from our progressive income tax to a broad-based consumption tax -- the most retrogressive form of taxation known.
William E. Norton
Baltimore
In Praise of the Nightstick and Blackjack
In regards to the article headlined "Better training in the use of force urged for police" (Nov. 5), I would like to address the pros and cons of its content as seen from the perspective of a foot patrolman and Drug Enforcement Unit officer, both of which I have been assigned to during my eight years with the Baltimore City Police Department.
The Koga Institute is urging the department to adopt a comprehensive policy on the use of force against suspects and replace the wooden nightstick and ban the blackjack.
I support the institute's findings that a standard policy on the use of force be implemented that would consolidate General Orders, Training Guidelines and Police Commissioner Memorandums.
I fail to understand why the wooden nightstick with the leather thong needs to be replaced.
Recruits in the Police Academy are issued a smaller version of the wooden nightstick that is commonly carried by officers on the street. Instructors at the academy recommend that recruits purchase the larger stick upon graduation due to the inferior quality of the wooden nightstick currently issued by this department.
The leather thong can be used as a come-along tool, or as an extra set of handcuffs. It can also be wrapped around the officer's wrist, preventing a suspect from pulling the nightstick away from the police officer.
The blackjack is an effective tool for narcotic officers who can't carry a nightstick with them. It is small and can easily fit into the rear pants pocket. It is highly effective in a close combat encounter when a larger nightstick would be ineffective.
Some command members feel that the sight of officers twirling their nightsticks intimidates citizens.
It is used as a psychological show of force, especially when interviewing a suspect. It tells a suspect that this area is the officer's space and not to enter it. I'm sure a suspect would rather be struck with a blackjack than struck with the officer's gun or shot.
Instead of banning these tools of law enforcement, we should adopt a standard policy and train officers how to use these tools effectively.
I fear that we are relying on too much feedback from the community in forming police standard operating procedure. It's unfortunate that the criminal element in the community usually has the loudest voice.
By replacing the wooden nightstick and eliminating the blackjack the next step would be the use of deadly force.
I also feel that command members need to tour their districts with foot patrolmen and motorized patrolmen, just to see how violent this city has become.
After a few foot chases and physical altercations (yes, the criminal does fight back), maybe they'll realize that these tools are needed to effectively police the city.
Banning these tools would be another step by society to un-arm our police and thereby decreasing their ability to protect themselves and society in general. By banning these tools, society has escalated a step to the use of deadly force.
Are we trying to project a perceived image or provide a service to the public? An injured police officer is no longer a servant to the public and has become a liability.
Chris A. Wade
Baltimore
Kind 'Bell Curve'
Having read some of the letters and columns printed in this newspaper and elsewhere which judge "The Bell Curve" by Charles Murray and the late Richard Herrnstein very harshly indeed, I offer this observation as one who has actually read the entire work, plus the appendixes, carefully and twice.
Their book is intellectually rigorous, socially responsible and spiritually compassionate -- but equally important, it is a kind, gentle, humane piece of work.
This kindness and gentleness and humanity result directly and unavoidably from the rigor of its intelligence, which persuades, from the responsibility of its social conscience, which attracts, and from the compassion of its spirit, which convinces.
No one who has actually read this book in its entirety and with an open mind and heart can doubt for an instant the great-heartedness of its authors or the honesty of their effort.
There is still room for disagreement with their conclusions and recommendations -- there will always be two reasonable sides to any difficult problem -- but in writing this book they have raised the level of debate by several orders of magnitude.
We all owe them our thanks at least for that, no matter what our personal views are.
A. Richard Walton
Columbia
Go East
I had to respond to Peter Jensen's Nov. 7 article as a member of the non-driving population of Baltimore. Several friends of mine (also non-drivers, for one reason or another) have solved the Metro's lack of ridership -- expand in new directions, literally.
The Metro and the Light Rail extend to the west and the north of town, but the east and northeast are left solely with bus service.
Although I have no complaint with bus service, I would like to be able to reach other sections of town without taking six or seven buses.
I am certain that many more people would utilize both services if they actually had access to them. The current layout of the routes demonstrates the tunnel vision of the Metro authority -- a tunnel heading straight west.
Anne Van de Castle
Baltimore
Liberal Bias
It was interesting to note The Sun's endorsements for the general election: 97 endorsements for Democrats, 46 endorsements for Republicans.
Would you say The Sun is liberally-biased?
F: Or, would you profess to be for the better candidates?
Thomas L. Krauth
Easton
All Humans
Perhaps the greatest asset a child can have is imagination. In children this is good. In an adult this is a very dangerous weapon.
I make this statement based on the article Nov. 1 headlined, "Board tackles religious holiday issue."
I can't help but wonder if the prejudices that we are fighting so hard (ha!) to overcome are not perpetuated by persons in position to set precedents, and parents ever-eager to strip from their children one more piece of childhood.
To claim that "my children are being bombarded by different types of messages," and making that sound a bad thing, is to me at best heart-wrenching. Perhaps the people who are up at arms in regard to this almost-comical affair should pull out a history book.
This country was founded on some fairly basic principles. Religious freedom springs to mind. Perhaps the parents and teachers and school board have an obligation to teach these children that we are not all Christians or Jews or Muslims, or any one thing in particular -- except human beings.
And as such we need to learn to live as a cohesive society made up of oh-so-many parts. Perhaps if our children can learn, they may be able to teach their parents that they, too, should not be afraid.
Jacki Hartlove
Linthicum Heights
Not a Tantrum
The headline on your s Nov. 10 article concerning the voters' "child-like temper tantrum" in the election really struck a nerve. The attitude pervades the liberal mentality: the "morally and intellectually elite" know what is best for the rest of us, the ignorant masses.
What happened across the country was not a temper tantrum; it was a statement. A temper tantrum would have resulted in incumbents from both parties being defeated. As we all know, not a single incumbent Republican lost in either the Senate or House.
This was a statement that Americans nationwide are tired of having confiscatory tax levels used to fund programs they don't believe in.
We have concluded that there is a better solution to our social ills than throwing money at the problem, which has become the standard Democratic answer to any situation.
It wasn't always this way, but the Democratic party has shifted so far left of mainstream America that if John F. Kennedy were still alive and espousing the same views, he would most certainly be regarded as a conservative.
Perhaps those who think as the headline writer does are the people really having a temper tantrum. Their condescending and patronizing attitude toward the electorate is no longer being tolerated, which I suppose is a bitter pill to swallow.
Harlan Thacker
Sparks
County Schools Inhibit Child Reading Skills
The foundation of a child's education -- the ability to read -- has been compromised in Baltimore County public schools.
Third-grade reading comprehension test scores for the majority of schools in Baltimore County are falling. The median percentile score for all county schools was 63 in 1991; it was 56 in 1994. Some of the most dramatic falls -- ranging from 10 to 29 percentile points -- have occurred in 25 schools.
When my daughter was unable to read simple words at the end of first grade, I inquired about the progress of other children in her school and about the way reading was taught.
I learned that many first-grade children in the school were failing to learn to read, and that the reading curriculum had been changed from one that was phonics-based to one based upon "whole language."
Not accepting that this was a coincidence, 86 parents signed a petition requesting that systematic phonics instruction be reintroduced in the school.
I learned that the "whole language" reading curriculum now used in county schools was advocated by those who believe -- without proof -- that direct, systematic phonics instruction is unnecessary, bores children and diminishes reading comprehension.
This is in contradiction to voluminous research showing that children taught with early, systematic phonics become more proficient readers and spellers than children who are not given this advantage.
HTC Children taught with whole language are expected to memorize whole words and guess their way through text. Phonics is taught incidentally and randomly, not in a way that can be used by most children to unlock the code to written English.
I have witnessed the sad result of whole language instruction: groups of frustrated, discouraged children turned off to reading.
In response to these problems, many parents are providing extracurricular reading instruction of many types for children. However, parents of children from disadvantaged homes may not have the resources to provide supplemental instruction for their children.
To the extent that the current curriculum leads to reading failures among children without access to extracurricular teaching, it may be discriminatory against these children.
School officials have pointed out that fifth-grade reading comprehension scores have risen.
However, I have reminded them that the vast majority of those fifth graders were taught with systematic phonics when they were beginning readers in grades one and two. At that time, the former phonics-based curriculum was still in place in most schools.
Why, then, does the Department of Curriculum and Instruction recommend that our children be instructed with a curriculum that does not contain direct, systematic phonics instruction? Was careful consideration given to adopting an entirely new reading curriculum?
The answers are appalling. There were between 8 and 10 whole language pilot programs started five years ago in county schools, according to the person in charge of elementary education at the time.
I was told that there were no pilot studies undertaken and no objective data collected to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum.
Even more astonishing is the fact that the department has been unable to identify any definitive research studies demonstrating that whole language for beginning readers is effective.
I view this as a problem of balance. The reading curriculum has swung to an extreme position, ignoring the needs of most children who need direct, systematic instruction in phonics to become skilled readers.
Yes, there are educationally worthy elements of the whole language philosophy. The children benefit greatly from the exposure to rich literature, integrated subjects, and emphasis on critical thinking skills.
Creative, "authentic" learning experiences are indeed valuable, but children need a sound base of knowledge and skills in order to benefit from these experiences.
If the acquisition of essential skills is functionally gutted in a misguided pursuit of holistic educational goals, children will be frustrated, lose self-esteem and cycle downward.
In a recent letter to me, Superintendent Stuart Berger declares that he has concluded it is not necessary to revise the county's reading curriculum.
He does not explain how he justifies this conclusion in the face of: (1) stable reading scores in county schools before the introduction of the whole language curriculum; (2) falling third-grade reading scores in the majority of county schools after implementing the whole language curriculum; (3) the absence of any credible research evidence that whole language is effective for beginning readers; (4) conclusive scientific evidence that instruction with intensive systematic phonics results in more proficient reading and comprehension; and (5) the absence of any pilot studies testing the effectiveness of the new curriculum in Baltimore County schools.
Parents, teachers and community members must let the school board know about deficiencies in reading skills they see among our children. Parents who have had to provide such privately-purchased aids as "Hooked on Phonics" or tutoring, or have already removed their children from the system, must let the school board hear about these problems.
The school board's community liaison is Nancy Reigle. She acts as a confidential liaison between the board and members of the community. Please call her with your concerns or questions at 832-5446.
The Baltimore County public schools can stop the exodus of children from county schools into private schools and home schooling by restoring the teaching of basic skills to beginning students.
Catherine C. Froggatt
Timonium