Apparently local governments in Madison County don’t get the new reality. When the state put limits on property taxes it was meant to help working-class families keep their homes. It was not meant to allow local taxing units to go on a taxation spree. The city of Anderson lost 20,000 good-paying jobs because politicians listen to corporations not taxpayers. Our leaders allowed homegrown industries to move out of the country to avoid taxes, health care plans and good wages for their workers, who, by the way, then buy their products. As we lost population the Anderson Community School Corporation kept building new schools instead of consolidating.
We need fire and police services, and these folks do a great job! However, with all the extra modern equipment and more officers on the beat, Andersonians keep shooting each other and dropping out of school. These things are all economy related. Education and job opportunity help keep violence down.
All the new taxes in the world won’t fix our new reality. We live in a global economy where American workers are expected to compete against slave labor in markets such as China where workers earn a few dollars a day. The growth on the south side of Anderson is a good sign, but it will not fix the real problem.
Until cities have the money they need to quit spending, like the average family has had to do. I have watched Alexandria’s downtown disappear as the jobs dried up. Until we stand up to corporate greed and change poor foreign trade policies we are on a long hard slide into permanent recession. In the meantime taxes must remain stagnant like our wages. I hate to be negative, but we haven’t seen the worst of this and local leaders need to tighten their belts.
Letters
Viewpoint: Local governments should face reality
- Letters
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Letter: Union attitude must prevail for recovery
Any recovery for the middle class, in the recovery of our economy, will be led by the recovery of the union attitude in America. Nothing else.
- Letter: Founding fathers were humanists
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Letter: Lutz not representing the working class
I feel bad that Rep. Lutz (R) is sad, because Democrats at the Statehouse are representing the working class people of Indiana. While he is representing big business.
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Viewpoint:: Washington must wake up to missile threat
Three years after President Obama opened an outstretched hand to Iran and attempted to reset relations with Russia, the former has restarted its drive to build nuclear weapons including recent missile testing and saber rattling while the latter has dropped its diplomatic relations to Cold War temperatures.
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Letter: Consumer-driven economy will pay off debt
To save America some money — by acclimation of course — let’s not have a presidential election in 2012. We already have a good president who will do his best to kill all Republican bills (DOA) and, consequently, create more good-paying jobs in the $30 per hour range.
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Letter: Gingrich cashes in on political amnesia
Rasmussen says that Romney has flattened nationally. Why?
Two reasons seem to tell the tale. Gingrich has shown that he will fight, and Romney is a Mormon, believed to be a “cult” by a majority of evangelicals. -
Letter: Hiring Winkler not wise spending
As a taxpayer I want to know that my taxes are being spent wisely. Hiring Greg Winkler at a salary of $126,000 is not wise spending.
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Letter: Bill of Rights being nullified by new law
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve. I doubt many Americans noticed its implications because they do not yet comprehend the big picture. This law, coupled with the Patriot Act, is paving the way for America’s direction toward tyranny.
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Letter: $14 trillion debt started by previous president
I’m a proud atheist who’s lucky enough to know the difference between fact and fantasy.
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Letter: Economy putting people in the gutters
We are now getting the results of putting people in the gutters. We need to take a second look at our government and its policies. It’s not working.
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Letter: Union attitude must prevail for recovery
