Letters: Stop the scare tactics about the IRS, Sen. Scott. Your rhetoric is dangerous
As an IRS employee in Miami, I applaud the Aug. 26 editorial, “IRS isn’t hiring 87,000 agents willing ‘to kill’ fellow Americans. Stop trying to scare us, senator.” The Editorial Board is correct to call out Sen. Rick Scott for his fear-mongering.
As president of the local National Treasury Employees Union, I represent almost 170 IRS employees who have struggled with a decade of budget cuts and staffing losses. The $80 billion the IRS will receive over 10 years under the Inflation Reduction Act is sorely needed to replace retiring employees, improve taxpayer services and upgrade 60-year-old technology; it does not create a super-army of armed agents.
People don’t like paying taxes, we know that, but that is how our country funds its troops and vital government services. Scott uses inflammatory language that preys on taxpayers’ fears and puts our employees at risk. IRS employees uphold the tax laws Congress puts in place. Our job is to help taxpayers comply with those laws.
Scott should tone down the dangerous rhetoric and support IRS employees here and across our state.
Jorge Luciano,
West Kendall
Student loans
I borrowed all of my college tuition, and every month after graduation I sent a check to my lenders.
I attended a community college for two years and graduated from a state school. I had a part-time, then full-time job while attending school.
I’m not alone in how I financed my education. Many thousands, maybe even millions of my generation did the same. We attended affordable schools, borrowed responsibly and paid back our debt on time.
I don’t agree that so many who seem to have borrowed irresponsibly to attend expensive private schools should be let off the hook. What’s more, President Biden touts how these debtors will now have extra funds to buy homes, cars and help the economy.
Shouldn’t aid to pay off a college loan be sent directly to the lenders to reduce that loan?
Otherwise, it’s free cash to deadbeats while their college loans remain as much a burden as before.
Jay Arnold,
Coral Gables
Shining through
The Aug. 26 Open Mic letter “Applause for Israel’s Gaza bombardment undeserved” presented a Palestinian version of the big lie about Israel. From the day Israel was established, its neighbors have tried to destroy it. The only reason for any bombing by this tiny country is to stop Palestinians’ indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli citizens. Great pains are taken to use precision munitions.
As to apartheid, few countries are as inclusive. Most recent statistics show the minority population at 25%, including 21% Israeli-Arab, all with full citizenship rights.
Rather than condemn this country of 10 million, surrounded by hundreds of millions of enemies, marvel at this gem in the Middle East.
Peter S. Schwedock,
Weston
Loan forgiveness
The GOP’s pearl-clutching over the moral hazard of student-loan forgiveness rates three Pinocchios. Seeing the GOP complain about blue-collar taxpayers shouldering the burden for rich college kids is truly cringe-worthy.
Democrats should call their bluff and propose a refundable tax credit for these workers, paid for by increasing the top marginal rate. Watch the hypocrites squirm.
Steven M. Urdegar,
Plantation
Pat on the back
Now that President Biden has proposed a reduction in student loan programs, whom do Republican students thank, or will Republican politicians take credit for that, too?
Bill Silver,
Coral Gables
Make a list
In the Aug. 24 letter “Demings’ ads,” the writer asks, “What has she done for her constituents lately and what would she bring to the table if elected to replace [Sen. Marco] Rubio?”
The question is valid, but ask the same of Rubio.
He’s been in the Senate for 10 years and voted “Yes” on anything the Republican president supported and “No” on anything a Democratic president supported. He was an important proponent of the so-called Gang of 8 immigration bill, which passed the Senate but expired without being enacted.
Rep. Val Demings has been a politician for four years. Like Rubio, she has not authored any significant legislation and she votes with her political party.
The reader should make a list of the five most important issues that legislatures can effectively change (excluding inflation) and compare both candidates’ positions on those before voting.
Marie Peterson,
Davie
Weak link
The Aug. 26 story “California’s Newsom donates $100,000 to Crist’s campaign,” parrots a suggestion by Republican flack Bill Whalen that “candidates [like Charlie Crist] may not want to be linked to Newsom and California, where far-left policies and the state’s high taxes, home and gas prices, rampant homelessness and other problems could potentially alienate undecided voters.”
California has a mean household income of $106,916 compared to $80,286 in Florida. As for Whalen, he is associated with the Hoover Institution, named for the Republican president whose economic policies started the Great Depression.
James L. Wilson,
Plantation
Trial by fire
Gov. Ron DeSantis and anyone else who would deny the right of a 10-year-old girl or a 65-year-old woman with an unwanted pregnancy to have an abortion should read the First Amendment of our Constitution, then justify their denial or legal reasoning — without citing the Ten Commandments.
Are we now living in the age of a Conservative Inquisition?
Howard Golden,
Miami
Mic drop?
Gov. DeSantis’ announcement of the arrests for voter fraud last week had the worst audio in the history of broadcasting. Apollo moon missions were more intelligible.
How can I have any confidence in him as a leader when he can’t even hire someone to do a proper mic check?
Erik Miller,
Hialeah
Power off
The Herald did a bang-up job on the Aug. 26 front-page story “‘Our plan might have paid off’: How FPL dollars secretly funded a spoiler vs. Levine Cava.” The big surprise: Our power utility funded it. What a shocking revelation.
FPL should focus on energy and service to its customers and get out of politics; it has become a sleazy stain on our community.
Nancy Lee,
Miami