A letter to the editor (sic throughout) on my recent piece about Initiative 1098:

Since A. Birch Steen is on leave please let this humble scribe try to fill in a gap. Judging by the article "TAX THE FILTHY RICH," Eli Sanders 9/9/2010, there is good reason to call this rag The Toilet Paper, for publishing such excrement. Mr. Sanders must have a fine liberal education for he obviously knows how to feel but not think.

Mr. Sanders feeble attempt at class warfare falls far short of intellingent journalism. Perhaps thats an oxymoron but we will labor on.

It is easy to quantify the well to do among us however lumping in every kid who works part time at McDonalds, or has a summer, work study job, or is simply unemployable is no way to calculate the effect of taxes on the great unwashed. There is no sales tax on food, rent, or dope. Sales tax can be optional, make a sandwich instead of burgering your way to obesity and poverty. Maybe that sets the bar too high for the victim class but there is a ring of truth to it. There are however taxes on beer and cigarettes most of which are purchased by the low income folk. In addition they pay no federal income tax and most likely consume more public services than the filthy rich. The filthy rich however pay income tax through the nose and please no dumb comments about write offs; you have to spend to get a write off or depreciation. By the way, rich most often means they worked harder, studied more and didn't buy the dope, cigarettes and beer.

Look at all those Beamers and Porsches out there, the drivers are supporting the state.

Contrary to Mr. Sanders poor research, there has not been an income tax in Washington because the legislature is feeble, rather an income tax is forbidden by the state constitution. The people of Washington have voted an income tax down seven times since 1935. The overwhelming bulk of the money backing this state income tax is from public employee unions.

Anyone who believes the tax junky legislature will not lower the bar on this tax is suffering from a terminal case of cranial rectitis. On top of lowering the tax bar they will re-raise the sales, B&O and property tax and then tell us how badly they feel.

As far as Mr. Gates goes he is either in his dotage and or so guilty about his life of privilige he has forgotten that we the people work for wages, not charge hundreds per hour.

Oh yes, I am not a member of the rich. I just hurt myself by occasionally reading and thinking.

FP Deeny