Misplaced trust in Trump’s tax proposal

Ihave long been a critic of our tax system because of its inequity, but this current administration’s tax proposal has lowered my opinion to contemptible. According to them, a severe reduction in corporate tax will inspire industry and the rich to invest the money in the nation’s economy, and thus raise workers’ wages.

That is putting a great deal on trusting them to do this, since they also have an opportunity to deposit the money in offshore bank accounts where it can’t be taxed.

To make our tax system fairer, I suggest either a flat tax or a national sales tax. With the former, the power of the Internal Revenue Service is curtailed; and with the latter, that office is eliminated. G. Gideon Rojas, MNL Santa Fe

Front-page news

It is sad to see your fine paper sinking and leaving journalism behind. Recently, you chose a front-page story about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke flying his flag when in the building (“Interior chief flies special flag when he is in office,” Oct. 14). Is that the best you can do?

Now, a story of significance reported by none other than The Washington Post regarding the Russian dossier is placed on Page A-5 in a few paragraphs (“Sources link Clinton campaign, Democrats to Russian dossier,” Oct. 25) while the comments of a failed U.S. senator are placed on the front page (“U.S. senator denounces president in biting speech,” Oct. 25).

How is this providing readers with newsworthy stories? Roger Walsh Santa Fe

Too special for drilling

The U.S. Senate voted recently to advance a budget bill that includes revenue from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (“No drilling in Arctic National Wildlife,” Looking In, Oct. 17).

Over the past 30 years, Congress has voted nearly 50 times on whether to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Yet time and time again, Congresses of the past followed science and public opinion to ensure that our nation’s largest and wildest refuge remains protected today. Not this Congress. The arctic refuge is one of our nation’s most majestic places, home to imperiled polar bears, the porcupine caribou herd, musk oxen, wolves and nearly 200 species of migratory birds that migrate to all 50 states.

The arctic refuge is too special to drill and should not be included in any mustpass legislation moving forward. Nigel Murphy

Albuquerque

The cancer of guns

There is a cancer on this society in the form of war weapons and ordnance being marketed freely to the civilian population fit only for battlefield slaughter.

The notion of brakes on marketing is well-established for drugs, alcohol and poisons, and intellectual material like pornography. Then Dec. 14, 2012, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — 20 children between 6 and 7 years old, and six adult staff members. Now the Oct. 1, 2017, Las Vegas, Nev., carnage — 58 killed by a shooter, over 500 injured.

I close now as I did in 2012: Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels who fear to stand for the public weal and face down the mania of laissez-faire, obsessive-compulsive commercial deregulation fanatics and freaks. Arthur Panaro

Santa Fe

He said, he said

A recent column by New Mexican columnist Milan Simonich attacks Republicans for holding Albuquerque mayoral candidate Tim Keller accountable for a poor record on crime and public safety (“The blame game is a GOP staple,” Oct. 23). Simonich casts Democratic State Auditor Keller, a former state senator, as the victim of a “blame game” and says Republicans are “stuck on themes they can’t support with facts.”

The facts are actually quite clear. As a state senator, Keller’s district had the highest crime rate in New Mexico. He has voted to protect killers and child predators from stronger laws and won’t hold judges accountable for catch-and-release policies that perpetuate the cycle of crime.

As a City Council member, Dan Lewis has actually taken measures to improve public safety: sponsoring recruitment and retention efforts, boosting officer pay and calling for the resignation of the former police chief. It’s understandable that Keller’s record would make Democrats uncomfortable — but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Ryan Cangiolosi

chairman Republican Party of New Mexico Albuquerque

Keep Gene

Bring back Gene Weingarten, please. David Schultz Taos