When they come for the hard-working taxpayer, it will be too late

To the editor:

First they taxed the executives at AIG, but I did not work for AIG, and it was unfair that they received bonuses, so I did not speak up.

Then they taxed the executives at Fannie Mae. They worked at a quasi-government agency and didn't deserve the money, so I did not speak up.

Then they taxed the people who worked for Bank of America and Citigroup, but I didn't work for those banks, so I did not speak up.

Then they broke the unions at GM because they said the unions were ruining the auto industry, but I don't live in Detroit, so I did not speak up.

Then they made soldiers returning from war pay for their own medical insurance, but I was against the war in Iraq, so I did not speak up.

Then they cut the pay of teachers, but I wasn't a teacher, and all my kids were out of school, so I did not speak up.

Then the government found a way to unfairly tax regular, hard-working Americans. I'm a hard-working American, but now it's too late to speak up.

I know this poem was borrowed from one written about the Holocaust, and I am not comparing today's economic situation to the Holocaust. But this poem also warns about the danger of government singling out an individual group and then exploiting them.

Whether you think the bonuses at AIG or any other financial institution were fair or not, that's not the issue. You have to worry about the Congress and president of the United States creating an abusive tax for a small group of people just because those people belong to an organization targeted by populist outrage.

If AIG were a big employer in Nevada, then it would be very possible that you would be working for them today. How would you like it if you worked there, you had nothing to do with today's financial collapse, all you did was your job and you did it well enough to deserve a bonus? And now you had the guns of the government pointing straight at you?

We should all be very afraid of our government. All President Obama needs to do is stir up public outrage against people he doesn't like, and then tax 90 percent of their earnings. Is jail time next?

Don't forget, President Obama knew about the bonuses all along. Now he all feigns outrage because three-quarters of the country oppose them.

John Murray

LAS VEGAS

Breaking the code

To the editor:

Regarding the AIG mess that Sen. Chris Dodd and his fellow Democrats created, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said, "We have to start focusing on the future, not try to redo what has already been done" (March 20 Review-Journal).

This is talking points code for "We're spending trillions of your tax dollars in a bill we didn't need. So let's get down to the business of throwing money around."

In the same interview, Sen. Reid said, "I'm always hoping for the sun coming up, but for Republicans, it is always going down." In code, this means, "I spend tax money to please the people to get re-elected. The Republicans are penny pinchers."

Wow, honesty in government -- if you read code.

PAUL E. WEBB

BOULDER CITY

Governments that care

To the editor:

In your Friday editorial, "Blame Canada?" one clause says it all: "Canadians who can afford to do so."

Universal health care assures that even those who can't afford it have access to medical care. Applying the argument against taxpayer-funded, universal health care in the case of actress Natasha Richardson's tragic death leaves out the fact that huge numbers of citizens in Canada would die every day without universal health care.

My own mother died of breast cancer in 1971 because she was raising five children on her own and had no health insurance for us. She put going to the doctor off until it was too late for her. Now I have another family member, very close to me, who has just made the same fatal mistake and may very well suffer the same dismal outcome.

Even with health insurance, many people, including myself, put off treatments that could prevent catastrophic health problems in their future. Many of us would love to go to the doctor and take care of our ills, but many of us can't afford to do so. We don't want to bankrupt our families.

Universal health care will not stop anyone, who can afford it, from going to a doctor and seeking immediate care. The United States needs to stop coming up with petty excuses and get on board with other nations that care enough to render medical care to all their citizens.

RICKY KENDALL

LAS VEGAS