Real problem is the outrageous income gap

To the editor:

A recent letter writer pointed out that the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans pay 70 percent of all federal income taxes. It was further stated that more than 50 percent of working Americans pay no income taxes at all. These were statements used to oppose the suggestion that the wealthy pay more into Social Security.

It must not have occurred to the writer that the reason this unhappy circumstance exists is because half of our working population does not earn enough to pay an income tax. The income of the middle class whose taxes used to fund most of the government's functions has been so decimated that the wealthy now must accept that additional burden.

But don't shed any tears for the wealthiest among us. The share of our country's income for the top 10 percent was up to 45.6 percent in 2008 and in 2007 the top 1 percent of this country's wealthiest citizens made 18.3 percent of all the income in the nation. The 2008 recession has added to the disparity and there's no indication that the trend will change.

In order to understand how the income gap has increased it's instructive to know that in 1973 the top 1 percent made 7.7 percent of the nation's income.

This is not the result of a lazy bunch of shiftless citizens who refuse to go out and find jobs and want others to support them, as is implied by defenders of the current system. It's the result of tax codes bought and paid for by those who are wealthy enough to buy the political power to have things their way.

Sure they want a smaller, less expensive government. It won't cost them as much to own it.

Far from being content with the economic tragedy current tax policies have caused, Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, wants to cut government programs by $6 trillion during the coming decade while at the same time adding additional tax cuts of $4 trillion for corporations and the wealthy. It seems his motto is, "If you've got it, flaunt it."

Edward Hayes

Las Vegas

Smoke free

To the editor:

I am not naive enough to think that there will be a complete ban on smoking in casinos anytime soon. Our legislators and bureaucrats, many of whom are probably themselves smokers, are too concerned with the "rights" of the few to consider the detrimental effect on the vast majority.

Would it be too much to ask, however, for a requirement that at least a significant portion of every large casino be designated non-smoking? The only casino I am aware of that brags about having a non-smoking area touts "100 non-smoking slots!" That is out of probably about 2,000. Not only that, but most of the slots there are old and tired -- none of the flashy up-to-date ones that are being installed because they are more fun to lose your money at.

The latest figures I could find indicate that about 21 percent of Nevadans are smokers. Therefore, our Legislature is cow-towing to them at the expense of nearly 80 percent of our citizens. Does that make sense?

Let's get real, legislators, and consider the huge majority of your electorate who are smart enough not to smoke or at least had enough wisdom to stop.

Milt Collins

Las Vegas