Capital Gains Tax Would Affect Few People
Ruth Peterson, Sen. John Braun’s legislative aide, called into John Panesko’s show to rebut my letter rebutting her letter claiming that the capital gains tax would hurt more than just the wealthy. She knows Panesko won’t let me call into his show because neither he nor Peterson could ever beat me in a debate in a public forum where Panesko doesn’t control the microphone.
Panesko tried to make it sound like I was attacking Peterson personally. I am not attacking her personally. She is not an extremist like the Tea Party. She is a mainstream Republican. Republicans always support the rich, while Democrats fight for the poor and middle class.
Peterson focused on the bill the governor and Democratic House wanted to pass taxing capital gains on over $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for couples. She still complained that farmers and contractors who sold off property for their retirement would be subject to the tax. But she didn’t tell her audience that the tax only would apply to only the top five-tenths of 1 percent of residents, or about 32,000 people.
Peterson downplayed my claim that if a couple sold a rental property for $100,000 they would have to pay a mere $2,500 capital gains tax, with $97,500 left over. She argued that if she lived 20 years after retiring, and her pension was only $1,800 a month, multiplying that by 20 years, that would be only $432,000.
But I say, if you divided that same $2,500 by 20 years, that would be the paltry sum of $125 a year, hardly a pimple on a flea’s butt.
Peterson went on to admit that agricultural land must be actively farmed to be exempt from the capital gains tax but complained that it won’t be exempt if it is not actively farmed. I agree that if the land is not actively farmed, it should be subject to the capital gains tax, just like any other property.
Everybody knows Panesko’s show is a safe haven for right-wing, anti-government propagandists, no matter how ridiculous their claims.
You have to keep in mind that Panesko and Peterson would never get away with such propaganda if we had a real Democratic Party in Lewis County. The Lewis County Democratic Party is dead under chairwoman Carol Brock.
One time Brock threw a tissy fit and told me to leave for merely mentioning Panesko and The Chronicle. Yeah, she really did that. Naturally, I refused to leave, so she adjourned the meeting. Yeah, she really did that too.
Then her first lieutenant, Brian Dow, made a motion not to allow me to mention The Chronicle or Panesko. Yeah, he really did that. Of course, I never let that one go anywhere either. But this is what the Central Committee is made up of. The Lewis County Democratic Party is in the worst shape it’s ever been in.
Don’t waste your time and money on the Lewis County Democratic Party. Brock should resign before she does any more damage.
Chuck Haunreiter
Chehalis
High Court Ruling on Gay Marriage Disgusting
As an American, I was saddened but not surprised by the Supreme Court’s latest decision regarding the homosexual agenda on June 26. It was another unprecedented declaration by a country that leads the world in many areas, including morally, with this disgusting redefinition of marriage.
Biblical truth was used by our Forefathers as a benchmark when considering laws affecting the moral health of our nation. Though not all Christians, the founding fathers and lawmakers realized that liberty needed boundaries/parameters regarding behavior — remove those landmarks at your peril.
The moral sin in America is a symptom of the root problem (Romans 1:18-22; Ezekiel 16:49). Wicked (Genesis 13:13), and effeminate (I Corinthians 6:9-10) men have stolen God’s rainbow as proof of his promise to mankind in Genesis 9:12-13 and now use it as a banner to flaunt their sin.
They are propagating a “lifestyle” that is condemned in the Word of God above all others (Romans 1:24, 25, 28). Becoming secular and moving away from the knowledge of God, America may find that this Supreme Court decision will hasten our path to ruin (Ezekiel 18:30).
William Bailey
Chehalis
Pool Provided Venue to Learn Valuable Skill
Each summer for 15 years I sat on the bleachers at the Pearl Street Pool in Centralia to monitor the progress of my children as they learned to swim. One of them went on to take life-saving training and became a lifeguard at the pool in 1970.
I never had an opportunity to learn to swim, but I believe it is a skill every child should have. I am thankful the state is offering to help Centralia make this possible again.
Stellajoe Staebler
Centralia
