The benefits of switching to a flat tax
Re: “Benefits of tax complexity,” April 18 Ed Quillen column.
I enjoyed Ed Quillen’s column on our tax code, which I assume was mostly tongue-in-cheek. I wish this issue got a little more attention year-round, instead of just during the horrors of tax season. It’s amazing that Americans continue to endure an incomprehensible tax code and the expense and energy involved with being compliant with this beast.
That being said, it has become apparent to me that the confusion itself is a barrier to any meaningful change. A case in point is Utah, where the governor has tried to institute a flat tax rate and eliminate most deductions. This would simplify the tax-paying process and actually reduce the tax burden on most taxpayers. Needless to say, there is a significant amount of resistance to this. The situation is similar to the student protesters in France who opposed the repeal of legislation which ironically would have actually helped them secure employment.
I think most Americans are so self-absorbed that they can’t see that giving up deductions in exchange for an understandable tax code (translation: flat tax rate) would not only be beneficial for the country as a whole but for their own bank accounts at tax time.
Gil Gardner, Sandy, Utah
Junk food in school vending machines
Re: “Healthy-food mandate for schools nixed,” April 13 news story.
Based on the information provided by The Denver Post regarding the veto by McGovernor Owens of House Bill 1056, I can only assume he is happy to mandate testing to gauge school quality but is unwilling to back up this mandate with healthy diets for our school children. His flip comment referencing the snacks available in vending machines at the Capitol smacks of ignorance, comparing an adult decision to that of children in school. McGovernor Owens is out of touch with the legislators we put in office to place quality bills on his desk for approval.
A quality nutrition program, which the federal wellness policy fails to provide, is as important as the information we intend to pass on to the students. Facts prove that an unhealthy diet limits the ability of kids to fully comprehend information and leads to additional disciplinary actions and absenteeism. Additionally, a healthier nutrition regimen at an early age might lower our health costs for adults in 15 years. McGovernor Owens’ narrow mind fails to see the long-term benefit of requiring this simple bit of legislation to become law in Colorado.
John Gallup, Wheat Ridge
CU hunger strke
Join me in applauding the dozen University of Colorado students on a hunger strike to boost international workers’ rights. They simply ask the university administration to follow the guidelines of the Designated Suppliers Program, in which companies contracted to manufacture CU apparel must produce at least one-quarter of their garments in factories where workers have democratic representation.This is surely the most modest of demands.
The students’ action has a dignity which is rare. How many of us, comfy, self-satisfied citizens that we are, are ready to actually fast for an issue we believe is crucial?
The university administration ought to salute the students as models of decorum, and it ought to actually thank each one of them personally – and sign on with the Designated Suppliers Program pronto. Thirteen major universities have signed on, and CU ought to join them – if only for the cynical reason that the university needs all the good press it can get.
Marilyn Krysl, Boulder
TV tower fight on Lookout Mountain
Re: “Golden aims to seize tower land,” April 13 news story.
The recent court filing by the city of Golden to seize land on Lookout Mountain has to be stopped. Golden has started court proceedings to use an eminent domain scheme to take land on Lookout Mountain. Just when the city was about to lose a very important court ruling allowing broadcasters to build a new digital tower on the mountain, it gets dirty and pulls the eminent domain card out and tries to avoid the court ruling by taking the land.This is just another example of a grievous abuse of power. I was proud to live in Golden, but not anymore.
Ernie Santella, Golden
Governor’s veto of emergency contraception bill
Re: “Governor doctors the facts on health,” April 17 Jim Spencer column.
Gov. Bill Owens recently vetoed a bill concerning the availability of emergency “contraception” through pharmacists. Columnist Jim Spencer falls into the language strategy of emergency-contraception proponents in his recent finger-wagging column.
Plan B supporters often repeat the dubious claim that emergency contraceptives cannot terminate a pregnancy. This claim relies on the disputed notion that a woman becomes pregnant when an embryo implants. This has little to do with the scientific fact of when life begins. Any human embryology textbook will tell you that life begins at conception, when the egg and sperm unite, not at implantation. From conception on, there is a continuum of human life until death. If conception has already occurred, the secondary effect of emergency contraceptives is to prevent implantation. The new life is abruptly ended. This is the hard science of human embryology, not the beliefs of only “a handful of science- denying fanatics.”
Greg Caudle, Littleton
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Re: “Owens sinks morning-after pill legislation,” April 14 news story.
Gov. Bill Owens says that one of the reasons he vetoed Plan B is because it would have enabled minors to “use emergency contraception as a form of regular birth control without a doctor’s consultation.” I wonder if he thought about all the other women in Colorado between the ages 18 and about 53 whose doctors or Catholic hospital emergency rooms would not give the timely help they need and deserve.
Barb Villiotti, Castle Rock
Funding for education in Colorado
Re: “Half-filled schools need DPS scrutiny,” April 14 editorial.
As a parent in the Denver Public Schools, I have been pleased to see The Post focus on the financial woes of the district. In your most recent editorial, for instance, you highlighted the challenge that Superintendent Michael Bennet faces in trying to attract families to DPS, at the same time that he has to make what you called “painful cuts.”
The reason that DPS and virtually every other school district in the state are facing painful cuts is because our state is not investing enough in our public school system. Last year, Colorado’s increase in per pupil funding went up scarcely more than 1 percent. At the same time, pension, health care and energy costs have increased by double digits. It’s quite simple: District revenue has edged up, but costs have skyrocketed. Our children are paying the price, through increased class sizes and reduced student support and services. I’ve seen this in my child’s school this year, and have been informed of even greater cuts next year.
It’s not enough to give DPS a pat on the back for working through tough financial times. We don’t have to accept the current financial situation as inevitable. Rather, The Post – and all Coloradans – should be demanding that our leaders do what it takes to stop the cuts and to start investing more in the quality of our schools.
Patricia L. Bortz, Denver
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