Gordon Gekko in the movie “Wall Street” was based on Sir James Goldsmith. Surely, many area residents remember Goldsmith.
Back in the “hostile takeover” days, he was the driving force in Goodyear’s decision to close the Cumberland Kelly-Springfield Tire plant.
It was reported he took a $90 million payoff. For that payoff, more than 1,000 people from our area were thrown into what is now the 47 percent.
A recent reader commentary in the Times-News (“Agenda is gnawing at our republic’s future,” Oct. 1) argues, that if you are in that 47 percent and “looking to move forward” a “greed is good” Bain Capital president is for you.
If somehow we can continue to fire people, close plants, lower wages, deprive workers of unionizing, send jobs overseas, or in the case of Mitt Romney’s host at the 47 percent remarks fund raiser, Marc Leder, push 6,000 Friendly’s restaurant employee pension obligations onto the taxpayer while jamming those savings into these so called “job creators” pockets, there will be some sort of magical reversal of fortune.
VP candidate Paul Ryan’s political hero is the novelist Ayn Rand. Rand was a self professed atheist and ideologue.
In her book “Atlas Shrugged,” her ideology professed her heroes must be free to advance their business models without regard or restraint.
If regulated, or as is in trend now, pick up their marbles and go offshore, society and we commoners will devolve into chaos.
Apparently, we the people who will not take personal responsibility for ourselves, cannot be responsible for our own governance either.
We haven’t the intelligence to realize that giving Grandma health care, her grandson an education or regulate our businesses, is bad for us.
It’s counterproductive in Ryan and Rand’s eyes. They would enlist their hero Mitt Romney to reverse our mistakes and save us from ourselves.
Grover Norquist, without whom no Republican congressman or senator gets elected, said on 60 Minutes he would like government spending at no more than 8 percent of GDP.
When it was pointed out we’ve not been that low since before Social Security was enacted, his intent became clear. His big money donors have no appetite to abide by our regulatory laws or pay for not only Big Bird but Social Security, Medicare, or education.
The Romneys of the world already pay a much lower rate than the average Joe and less than many of the 47 percent they disdain.
The right wing Heritage Foundation rejects the recently posted position that the 47 percenters only pay 7.65 percent in payroll tax.
They say, “in reality, the employee pays the entire 13.3 percent, because the employer’s portion of the tax does not affect the cost of labor. The employer would pay the employee 7.65 percent more if there were no employer’s portion of the payroll tax.”
But still that is not enough! Be assured as an ever increasing percentage of wealth goes to the “job creators,” Grover’s “no tax pledge” that nearly every Republican including Romney, Ryan and Roscoe Bartlett have signed, will continue to work to lower their share of contributions. It’s already had a devastating affect on our economy and national debt.
If the above players continue their success, a day of reckoning will come.
Fox “not the news” may have convinced many it will be less food stamps for some no good, gay, teacher, Muslim, illegal immigrant, tree hugging bum down the street but the reality is, “it will” come out of your Social Security, Medicare, child’s education and more!
Update! In yet another change of position, Mitt Romney now loves the 47 percent!
Clay Ingram
Cumberland
Letters
Would there be a magical reversal of fortune?
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Freedom isn’t exactly what he thinks it is
In the June 2 Times-News, R. Steele Selby (“Just how free are we?) defines freedom as “the capacity to do whatever he or she wants to do” and asserts that this definition is “most likely nearly universal.”
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What Maryland calls the Fair Share Act isn’t fair at all
The Fair Share Act was passed in 2009. This law allowed for service fees to be part of the collective bargaining process.
The law does not mandate that service fees be negotiated, it simply provides that they can be. -
We have lots to show for our education dollars
I would like to take this opportunity to respond to Judith Weller’s latest anti-education diatribe, “The money they already have isn’t being spent wisely,” (June 3).
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Western Md. Veterans continues its mission
My name is Dan Brashear, I am the founder and director of Western Maryland Veterans.
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Maybe the cyclists and casino workers should be armed
Again, unfortunately I have to remind Don Carns Jr. of Beans Cove, Pa., on his latest repeatedly inaccurate letter published June 10 in the Cumberland Times-News (“Township is nothing like either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia”).
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Let’s all kick in $1 to help save Frostburg’s Palace Theatre
As a former resident, I have many fond memories of the Palace Theatre (“Theater wall crumbles: Palace exterior collapses, unfit for entry: officials,” June 6 Times-News, Page 1A).
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Develop the waterway
Since the debate over removing the dam started about four years ago, I have been concerned about the effect the dam removal would have on the area’s welfare.
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Living center marks national nursing assistants week
Golden Living Center will join in the celebrations honoring the hundreds of thousands of nursing assistants across the country during National Nursing Assistants Week, June 13-20.
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West Virginia, Johnny Cash, coal miners honored on stamps
While this most likely won’t fall under the category of the most earth-shattering letter to the editor you will read today, it is still big doings for those of us here at the U.S. Postal Service.
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If you build a whitewater play spot, they will come
Regarding “River Project Prospects: Experts reveal benefits, challenges at Allegany Museum” (June 7 Times-News, Page 1A):
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Freedom isn’t exactly what he thinks it is
