Tax ‘cuts’ could be prohibitively expensive for some

Listening to Speaker of the House on tax cuts for poor and middle-class. Sounds great, but I wonder how much thought has been given to the balance resulting in total?

For most people with disabilities and severe illnesses (significantly higher insurance premiums and deductibles under Obamacare, prescription, and healthcare/doctor/hospital bills), the taxes may be lowered, but the overall costs to these folks will be much greater, thereby nullifying any gains from the lower tax rate should this deduction be eliminated as proposed in one version! These folks will then probably be unable to afford the increased costs for necessary health care because we will have much more out-of-pocket costs than any small gains resulting from a tax cut alone.

Come quickly, Jesus, come quickly! God bless!

Madness

Some have said, “Sanity is the ability face reality.” By that definition, there are a lot of crazy people across the political spectrum. From Clinton blaming everyone but herself for losing the election to stalwarts standing by Roy Moore despite his flaws, there seems to be an epidemic of “brain blindness” to what is really happening.

Most of us still get our information about worldly events through mass media. To assume that somehow the “liberal media” is conspiring against certain public figures seem Orwellian and extreme. The major new outlets try to compete to be the first to report stories and, in general, do a decent job. Truth has a way of eventually coming to light, and we can thank our free press. To spout “fake news” every time an unflattering story comes out is childish.

Roy Moore has so much baggage that most Constitutional experts will agree he misses the essence of our democracy. Blinded by religious fever and defensive against the “Washington Establishment” (swamp), his supporters stand by their man and turn a blind eye to his faults. The very notion of separation of state and religion is suppressed in their defensive stance which is an expected reaction to our increasingly secular society. But Roy’s self-righteousness in the face of so many accusers shows a character flaw reminiscent of some other prominent public figures. (Think Cosby, Weinstein, Clinton, etc.) It is a sad commentary on Alabama that so many are unwilling to face this reality and stop supporting this man. I’ll be voting for Doug Jones.

Deadlocked

Nancy Pelosi has said the proposed tax reform bill is not tax reform, and that it is a tax scam. I guess maybe she is suggesting she has studied the bill. I remember when the Obamacare bill was being considered, she famously said, let’s pass it so we can tell what's in it. If she were truthful she would say she will not even consider the bill because it is sponsored by Republicans, just as surely as she would pass anything proposed by Democrats whether she read it or not.

It is truly disheartening when we continue to see the squabbles between the two parties who seem to only care about their own agendas and do not appear to give a hoot whether any particular suggestion is good for the people of America who elected them to office, to serve the people. It’s like the old axiom that asks: What happens when an irresistible force meets an unmovable object? Nothing.

Political ambush

I doubt if anyone really knows whether he did it, but I have a few reservations. Accusations without proof are to be taken with a grain of salt.

I began to doubt the veracity of charges against Moore when I saw the TV footage of one matronly accuser, weeping and sniffling, Kleenexing her tears, recounting the event. Good God, that was 40 years ago and she's still weeping? To me, it doesn't pass the smell test.

How easy it is to fling accusations … it can happen to any of us, depending on the agenda of the accuser.

So I asked myself, "Who gains from this?" It is entirely feasible the Democrats gathered a group of women with some contact with Moore who share the politics of the Democrats, in order to get Moore out of the Senate so their Democrat can fill the spot. The fact that one of his accusers worked on the Clinton campaign should give one pause.

Costly, ugly

As I drove down Cherokee Avenue, I noticed the new parking lot built for Columbus High School students.

The expenses incurred in acquiring the property for this new parking lot as well as the costs for constructing it are nothing short of exorbitant. I understand that CHS students needed more parking spaces, but I do not think it was necessary to compromise a neighborhood to achieve this new parking lot. If existing parking lots were not adequate for the number of students drivers, Columbus High should have taken steps to live with those parking lots.

The most logical solution would have been to limit the number of students drivers. For example, driving to school and parking on campus could have been limited to juniors and seniors. However, this horribly expensive parking lot was created. It has been landscaped, but it still looks like some type of burial mound. Only in Columbus!

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Tax ‘cuts’ could be prohibitively expensive for some."