Letters: We need new leaders, higher taxes

We deserve the mess our country is in. We keep on electing the same spineless politicians year after year, or (just as bad) we bounce back and forth between Democrats and Republicans when we're unhappy. Both political parties are more interested in power for themselves than they are with what's good for the people.

It's our fault. It's time to take control. We must not be afraid to vote for a third-party candidate. It's not a wasted vote. Congress acts like 3-year-old kids bickering, and the New York State Legislature is a national joke. We need new leaders.

Don Kehoe, Westhampton Beach
 

The Republican leadership is steadfast in its stance against raising taxes on the wealthy ["Bloomberg: Buffett tax call 'just theatrics,' " News, Sept. 26]. In fact, it would not be raising taxes, but simply repealing the tax breaks the wealthy have enjoyed for the last 10 years.

Republicans would have us believe that this is a "jobs killer." It's the old Reagan trickle-down economics theory, and it doesn't work. They've enjoyed this tax break for a decade, and there are at least 14 million people out of work. All it accomplished was to create a bigger gap between the haves and the have-nots.

America owes more than $14 trillion. How can we ever hope to pay it off? The only way is to increase America's income.

The rich people got us into this mess, and it's time they started digging us out. During World War II, the highest tax bracket was close to 90 percent. During Richard M. Nixon's presidency, it was 70 percent. There was no real debt to speak of; the government spent what it took in.

We need to pay off our debt. The only way to do that is to raise taxes on the wealthy and big corporations. They're the only ones who have any money left.

Once the debt is paid off, we can discuss relaxing tax rates again.

Eric Grasman, Massapequa