Open Letter:
Many thanks to the hard-working members of our county Department of Highways districts for keeping our roads open and safe. It has been “a snow to remember” and the men and women of the DOH have been our first responders.
The next time you plow or shovel your driveway, remember that without the efforts of the DOH your drive- way leads nowhere!
Martin Saffer
Hillsboro
Editor,
Every year I receive a military care package from Pocahontas County Schools. It means a lot to receive something from home when forward deployed or away from home at your current duty station while serving in the military.
There’s always a copy of The Pocahontas Times included in the package. In the issue of the Times included in the package was a picture of Pocahontas County men being called to service to fight in World War II. The picture was taken on the steps of the Courthouse on 6 November 1942. Several days later, these same men boarded the train in Marlinton and shipped out to fight for freedom and to support and defend the Constitution of the United States – there’s a picture taken at the depot in Marlinton as they left for war. The Soldiers and Airmen most likely went to Europe, the Marines and Sailors to the Pacific.
I couldn’t help but think about how many of these men made the ultimate sacrifice and didn’t return to their family farms and the mountains of Pocahontas County.
Pocahontas County has a rich history of military service that continues today.
Thank you to the Purple Star students for all you do for the Active Duty and Veterans of Pocahontas County.
v/r,
Lieutenant Colonel Todd P Gay
United States Marine Corps
Editor:
I write in response to Joe Kaffl’s ill-informed letter in the January 9th issue of this paper regarding federal tax policy. This is despite him saying that anyone who disagrees with his proposal for a flat personal income tax must also believe the Earth is flat. That approach to argumentation reminds me of Newt Gingrich’s old tactic of saying, “No thinking person could possibly disagree with…” whatever he was going on about.
The fact is that federal income tax policy (as well as West Virginia’s and most other states) has what is called “progressive” tax rates – so that the more taxable income you have, the higher rate you pay up to a maximum tax rate – above which the tax system functions as a flat rate for high earners. “Progressive tax rates” is an economic term, not political, and is the opposite of “regressive taxes” such as the sales tax, where everyone pays the same rate whether they are rich or poor.
During the Eisenhower Administration of the 1950s, the top marginal income tax rate was 91%. By the time Ronald Reagan was president in the 1980s, the highest tax bracket was lowered from 70% to 50% – mostly by eliminating many types of tax deduction, such as personal interest payments (not mortgages) and taxes on gasoline. The Clinton Administration of the 1990s further simplified the tax code and lowered the top rate to 39.6% – and was able to generate a budget surplus for several years.
The upcoming tax debate in Congress will be about whether to extend the current Trump tax cuts from 2017 – and whether to lower the corporate flat tax rate from 21% to 15%. The current federal tax code doubles the standard deduction from before 2017 so that the great majority of wage earning taxpayers do not have to worry about itemizing deductions – and the tax rates for each bracket were lowered so that people with low or even moderate incomes typically pay little or no federal income tax at all – and may receive the earned income tax credit as a refund if they have children. As a result, most people have straightforward tax returns that are not complicated. (I should know because I still prepare our tax returns on paper). Even so, it is fanciful to think that federal income taxes can be reduced to a single page.
Under Mr. Kaffl’s flat tax proposal many poor people who currently have untaxed income would have to pay federal income taxes. Is that what he really wants? I can’t imagine that any thinking person believes he does.
Jay Miller
Hillsboro
