LETTERS: Tiered business tax is a better idea
To the editor:
I read with interest the letter to the editor by Ruben Murillo Jr., president of the Nevada State Education Association. I agree with Mr. Murillo that businesses in Nevada need to pay their fair share, but our ideas of how the state should go about enforcing it differs.
Nevada has a modified business tax, a proposed margins tax, and during the last legislative session, a tax on entertainment was suggested. Mining pays its fair share of taxes on things most Nevadans never hear about. Gaming establishments pay numerous taxes to cities, counties and the state. Both entities pay good wages to their employees.
My question would be: Why can’t we have a real business tax, a tiered business tax that protects the small mom-and-pop operations, but still has them pay their fair share and moves up from there? I don’t recall Caesars Entertainment trucks rolling down our highways and streets, tearing up our roadways, but Wal-Mart and Costco trucks are on the road every day.
If you go on the web and search for patio furniture at Wal-Mart in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Las Vegas, you will find with regional pricing that the cost only differs a few dollars in all four areas. The real difference is that in California, Utah and Arizona, Wal-Mart paid a business tax; here, the company made a profit off the backs of our children.
Nevada ranks low in the nation in education and is last on every good list and at the top of every bad list. We don’t need new stupid taxes. We need leadership that has the guts to do the right thing for the people of Nevada.
FREDRICK WILKENING
LAS VEGAS
The right not wrong
To the editor:
In response to letter writer Janice Herr, I suggest she check her facts (“The right is wrong,” Wednesday Review-Journal). First, with her reference to President George W. Bush, Democratic policies of strong-arming banks to lower their lending standards to increase home sales ultimately caused the housing bubble to burst. Democrats, along with their environmentalist buddies, have also declared war on energy companies, manufacturing, farmers and ranchers. That’s driven businesses overseas and forced U.S. consumers to pay more for everything, while millions of jobs have been lost.
Most importantly, we rely more and more on foreign countries supplying our food, with fewer and fewer safeguards for the U.S. consumer.
All of this came to a head at the end of President Bush’s term, and the only thing he did wrong was not getting aggressive enough in stopping the left and exposing the responsible parties.
President Barack Obama’s policies have been a disaster for this country, period. He has lied to America over and over again, pitting different groups against each other. He campaigned as a uniter, but his actions have had quite the opposite effect. His economic policies have been unbelievably bad when you consider the tax increases, the oppressive environmental policies and unsustainable debt, all leading to a very weak job market.
The president says he is all about the middle class, but again, his actions say otherwise. The middle class has been hit hard, with no jobs and higher costs for basic needs, such as energy and food. And all of this is only going to get worse unless we stand up and say no more.
Ms. Herr mentioned the Keystone pipeline and the “dubious” fracking procedure. Fracking has been happening for years, and it’s a proven, safe way of extracting energy resources. Contrary to what she says, the pipeline will provide thousands of good-paying jobs, both permanent and temporary, and moving oil by pipeline is much safer than by rail, which is what is happening right now.
I do agree that we need to elect intelligent people who can compromise. But I think the compromise should be on subjects such as taxes at the expense of jobs, bogus environmental concerns (man-caused global warming) at the expense of affordable energy, and using the Endangered Species Act to mislead against job-creating projects.
JIM OLSEN
NORTH LAS VEGAS
