Home-run ball: income or capital gain?

To the editor:

Just how much more does the American taxpayer have to take from the Internal Revenue Service until he says “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”?

In a surprisingly short-lived story, 21-year-old baseball fan Matt Murphy grabbed the prized Barry Bonds No. 756 home-run ball last week. The IRS then proposed to tax him before he even sells it. The surprise is how quickly the story died on the vine, allowing the IRS to get away with destroying the enjoyment of a baseball moment.

I have nothing against paying a fair share, though I prefer a 10 percent flat tax. But the IRS, under both Republican and Democratic leadership, has continued to grow in power like a bloated Third-World dictator. How does the IRS know what Murphy will sell the ball for?

The IRS is like a malignant tumor, allowed to fester out of control by money-hungry politicians. It is allowed to charge more in late fees, penalties, and interest than most mob shylocks. Will Congress ever put this rabid dog down, or will Americans have to continue to cower in its presence, afraid of its wrath, awed by its omnipotence, and dismayed by its lack of compassion?

RON MOERS

HENDERSON

Inconvenient question

To the editor:

In your Friday article, “Clinton spreads message,” you have exposed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as the candidate who seemingly lives up to her reputation for being caustic, antagonistic and willing to step on just about anybody who gets in her way.

She goes to convention of black journalists, and then when she is asked a difficult but legitimate question about her health care plans, her response is to berate the individual, saying: “We’ll give you some information, if you’re interested in being educated instead of rhetorical.”

Well, I have studied her health care proposal of 15 years ago, and it is alarmingly similar to the failed systems of Canada and England — systems they themselves admit do not work. The question of why Sen. Clinton supports socialized medicine was right on the spot, and all she could fall back on was a spiteful comment obviously designed to insinuate the questioner was ignorant.

I am not so sure what bothers me more: the fact that Sen. Clinton obviously does not want the public to know where she really stands, or the fact that “a huge cheer went up from the crowd in the packed ballroom” after her response. Remember, these were journalists.

I thought journalists were supposed to seek and report the truth, not cheer when free speech is berated by Orwellian comments from a major presidential candidate.

J.J. SCHRADER

HENDERSON

Not socialism

To the editor:

Wikipedia explains the difference between socialized medicine and the “single payer” system advocated by Sen. Hillary Clinton. I quote:

“Single payer health insurance is a type of health care system in which the government assumes the role of an insurance company and pays doctors, hospitals and other providers for health care. It differs with socialized medicine, in which health care providers are employees of the government, because under single payer health insurance, doctors’ practices and hospitals remain private. The government provider may be the national government, regional governments, or a combination. An example of a single payer health insurance system is the United States Medicare program.”

The fact that the most powerful and wealthiest nation the world has ever known refuses to take care of its poor children is just plain wrong. The credo of “conservatives” that says “I’ve got mine, the rest of you can go stuff it” is shameful.

STANLEY GOLDFARB

LAS VEGAS

Done deal

To the editor:

I was amused to read that there were those who objected to a casino at the base of the road to Kyle Canyon.

Those 38 families contacted about the hearing were nothing but token. They must have realized the decisions and the deals have already been made. There will be a casino and a development of 14,000 homes within the next two years.

The voice of the ordinary resident means absolutely zero in this city and county. Look for high-rise condos in Red Rock Canyon within five years.

MARY MEYER

LAS VEGAS

Held hostage?

To the editor:

I experienced an interesting “one-on-one” with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman at “Coffee With The Mayor” on Friday, Aug. 10. I criticized his vision for another Day Labor Center. I pointed out Las Vegas has twice the national average of illegal aliens per capita and that the majority of Nevadans want stricter enforcement of laws.

I was not surprised when he said that he wasn’t going to try to make or enforce any laws against illegals (I suspected as much), or when he notified me that he had never heard of Aztlan or the Reconquista (regrettably, few people have). But when he said that in his opinion, if legal action were taken against illegal aliens and they were deprived of their livelihood, they would react by taking guns and robbing banks, I was surprised.

If we avoid taking action against lawbreaking aliens because of fear that they will commit violent crimes, only the citizens of Las Vegas can determine the implications inherent in such a philosophy.

TOM TOWNSEND

LAS VEGAS