Wednesday, September 27, 2000
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Wednesday, September 27, 2000 |
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Country is on the wrong course I am very concerned these days about the state of our country. As I read the local paper and Internet news stories, I see several articles that make me question how this country got so far off course from our founding fathers. To begin with, just about everyone, especially the press and politicians, refer to this country as a democracy instead of a republic. Have we not pledged our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, or are we now involved in some kind of psychological game with the choice of words. Why can't politicians at least show the American people that they are astute enough to know what they are representing. The article that inspired me to finally write though was one on SB-2099. I am getting tired of the sneaky ways our leaders try to circumvent the Constitution of these United States. The founding forefathers were far more superior in intelligence when they wrote the Constitution than these people who are trying this backhanded way of changing it. This kind of backhanded action is what leads the public to lose trust in politicians. The IRS has no business trying to regulate guns through taxes. The president and U.S. Senate have no business trying to use the IRS for this purpose or trying to impose more taxes on items that have been taxed several times already. I am writing [members of Congress] to request that [they] vote against passage of this bill. I understand that gun violence is a terrible tragedy for this country, but we have only ourselves to blame. Just look at the decay of our society in terms of the family, morale values and selfishness. There lies the problem with guns. Why do we always look to blame the end result instead of what brought us to the end result? We did not have such a large problem with the use of firearms until our society started its decline. I would also like to express my concern about another article in the local paper concerning a local agency that has been given the power of jurisdiction over the metro Atlanta area without local representation. I am referring to GRTA. I know that presently this is a local matter, but it came about because of federal mandates. Is this beginning of what is to come? This concept is what started the American Revolution. GRTA should have no jurisdictional power, but make recommendations and work with local governments (elected by the people) to solve our problems. Wake up, please! Federal mandates caused this, federal mandates can stop this. Then there are taxes. This country should be ashamed of itself for allowing this tax in the first place. Entrepreneurial businesses and farms have paid numerous taxes on income and assets their entire existence and then when the owner dies our government has given the IRS the right to absurdly tax it again. Ludicrous! Stop taking away the incentives of ownership! Let there be family farms and businesses. Let's train and encourage people to do for themselves and live life, not become dependent and slaves of the government. We as a country like to let the world know that America is a land of opportunity, but we fail to mention that it is becoming a land where our families are forced to give up our hard-earned opportunities, due to taxation, once we are dead. Democrats and the media share a lot of the blame for this by making out that this tax is only a "rich man's" tax. This is absurd. Why, any way, should it be a bad thing to be rich? Isn't that one of the rewards of opportunity. Gerald Gentrup Jonesboro
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