Letters to the editor

Tax cuts rob the poor and give to the rich

Dear editor:

President Bush's budget gives MORE to the very rich and takes from everyone else. His is proposing cuts to education and Medicare while offering a $1.35 trillion tax cut over the next decade that is giving to the wealthiest.

At a time when many folks here in southwest Missouri are struggling to make ends meet, that's just not right.

The Bush tax cuts for the rich are a cruel insult while the rest of us are making sacrifices.

Congress should reject the budget, and if they don't, we should fire them. It's clear that the budget is a failure. Now it's up to Congress to set things right. Republican members of Congress need to stand up to Bush on behalf of us middle-class folks who are losing. And if Congress doesn't, they should be thrown out of office this November.

-- Jim Adams

Nevada

Saddened by closing of animal shelter

Dear editor:

I was saddened to read of the closing of the Nevada Humane Society. I hope and pray that it is temporary, as the need is so great!

I know that it is difficult to keep help and the influx of adults and puppies is constantly increasing, but we must not lose sight of the fact that Helen Dodson and her late husband have dedicated many, many years to keeping the shelter operating -- frequently under many adverse conditions.

Helen, Barbara Weakley the remainder of the board are exceptionally caring people, and have don so much for the animals.

My family and I are so grateful for all that they have accomplished.

-- Jaquin L. Brown

Nevada

Bush budget: Tax cuts for tycoons -- tax increase for dairy farmers

Dear editor:

Under the proposed Bush Administration's budget for FY2007, America's dairy farmers will be hit by a trifecta of taxes and assaults on their safety net.

Dairy farmers are some of the nation's hardest working individuals and work around the clock to provide American consumers with a steady and safe milk supply. National Farmers Union is urging Congress to reject the President's budget proposal, which attacks rural America.

"This budget proposal is lacking in common-sense" said NFU Vice President of Government Relations Tom Buis. "America's dairy farmers should not be expected to pay new taxes and diminish their safety net so multi-millionaires get another tax cut."

Under the Bush Administration's budget proposal, dairy farmers would be taxed $0.03 for every hundredweight of milk produced. For an average size farm, this amounts to more than $700 per year in new taxes. In addition to the new tax, dairy farmers are taking a hit on their safety net. Congress just approved a scaled-down extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract program, which provides producers an economic safety net when prices fall below a specific level. The Bush budget calls for further reductions in the MILC program with a 5 percent cut of all payments.

"In the final blow to our nation's hard working dairy farmers, the president's budget calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to adjust the price support program to keep costs at a minimum," Buis said.

"This means producers will lose additional leverage of their safety net."

Dairy producers are facing increased costs in production, a dilapidated safety net, predicted market lows for milk in 2006, increased imports and ongoing efforts to change the definition of milk for the benefit of processors. In this harsh operating environment it makes little sense to further jeopardize their futures.

"With 25 percent of the 2007 budget cuts coming out of agriculture spending, farmers and ranchers are saying enough is enough," Buis said. "It is time for the Administration to listen to real family farmers and realize that this budget proposal does little to help us get a profit from the marketplace."

--National Farmers Union