Why is it that in times of crisis when most Americans unite against a common enemy, a few profiteers show their fangs? Among the usual suspects are the oil profiteers. We have seen huge increases in gas prices overnight. Why? In almost every case that product has been paid for. It is current stock. How can that price change?
Once the tanks are filled and the bill paid I doubt whether a request for additional payment is sent. If the dealer paid $1 per gallon and charged $1.10 per gallon, why all of a sudden with no new delivery does he begin to charge $1.20 per gallon? He is still selling the same product for which he paid $1.
The dealers, whom most of us trust, tell us that they are told what price to charge by those from whom they buy the gasoline. If this is not gouging, what is it, and who is responsible?
Don't tell me about probable cuts in production, or rises in the price of crude oil. Those products will not arrive as refined gasoline for 90 days or more. We will understand a price increase at that time. But will someone in the oil distribution or wholesaling business please explain to us why you are again profiteering during a time of crisis? And what kind of people are you to do such a dastardly thing?
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
September 23, 2001
Sunday, September 23, 2001
Friday, September 07, 2001
Election holiday isn't union plot
Regarding the proposed Election Day holiday, Tony Moschetti wrote (letter, Aug. 17), "This is just a ploy to give the unions, who already have a holiday on Election Day, even more time to round up folks, take them to the polls and direct them to vote for Democrats even if they know nothing about the person for whom they are 'voting.' "
Being a registered Republican and union worker whose wife is also a registered Republican and union worker, I would like to know where these so-called Election Day facts came from. Our neighbor is also a union worker and between the three of us we are members of three of the largest unions in the country. None of us gets the day off for elections.
Is this just another right-wing zealot who thinks he can throw the words "union" and "liberal" together and it is automatically the truth?
Because North Carolina is one of the least-unionized states in the country and, nationwide, there are only about 16 million union members in a country of about 200 million voters, the writer seems mighty nervous. Why?
Is it because he knows the extremists in the Republican Party are pushing us moderates away and we could eventually pull a Jim Jeffords and abandon him and his party?
Oh, and I expect there were a few people who voted for Republicans even if they knew nothing about the person for whom they were "voting."
Doug Ross
Burlington
News & Record
September 7, 2001
Being a registered Republican and union worker whose wife is also a registered Republican and union worker, I would like to know where these so-called Election Day facts came from. Our neighbor is also a union worker and between the three of us we are members of three of the largest unions in the country. None of us gets the day off for elections.
Is this just another right-wing zealot who thinks he can throw the words "union" and "liberal" together and it is automatically the truth?
Because North Carolina is one of the least-unionized states in the country and, nationwide, there are only about 16 million union members in a country of about 200 million voters, the writer seems mighty nervous. Why?
Is it because he knows the extremists in the Republican Party are pushing us moderates away and we could eventually pull a Jim Jeffords and abandon him and his party?
Oh, and I expect there were a few people who voted for Republicans even if they knew nothing about the person for whom they were "voting."
Doug Ross
Burlington
News & Record
September 7, 2001
Sunday, August 19, 2001
Citizens get passionate when discussing a potential state tax increase
State wrestles on taxes; Citizens get passionate when discussing a potential state tax increase.
By Paul Muschick
Staff Writer
If you're going to talk taxes with Tony Moschetti, pull up a comfortable chair - but not too close. Moschetti tends to get loud when cursing governments for taking too much of his paycheck.
''It's a subject that just angers me to no end,'' the High Point insurance agent said.
Karla Ewald isn't so loud, but supporters of higher taxes are rarely heard over tax opponents. The Greensboro woman would rather pay more so the state doesn't cut services.
''The level of service that we are talking about cutting would be catastrophic,'' said Ewald, executive director of the Association for Retarded Citizens of Greensboro.
North Carolina lawmakers and Gov. Mike Easley have yet to decide who they will appease as they debate whether to raise taxes. As they argue, one thing is
clear: Both Moschetti and Ewald have a point.
North Carolinians already pay plenty of taxes, especially gas and income levies, and people in other states pay less.
But plenty of people pay more, too. North Carolina isn't even close to being one of the heaviest-taxed states when all state and local taxes are considered.
Governments erase less from our paychecks than the national average.
The state and local governments took nearly $ 11 of every $ 100 earned in North Carolina in fiscal 1997-98, ranking the state 30th in the country. That does not include federal taxes.
When compared on a per-capita basis, or tax-per-person, the state ranks 33rd at $ 2,557, also lower than the national average.
The comparisons, from an annual survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, were released last month and are the most recent available. They include all taxes - property, income, sales, corporate and others.
Maine had the heaviest tax burden, with people paying more than $ 14 of every $ 100 earned to state and local taxes; New Hampshire ranked lowest at about $ 9.
People like Moschetti say North Carolina needs to do better because the state is taking a bigger hit in these hard times than other places. North Carolina experienced the sharpest drop in employment in the nation from May to June.
''They continue to raise the taxes of the people of this state while they're losing jobs,'' said Moschetti, a former member of the Guilford County Mental Health Board who has criticized public officials of all sorts in person and on radio talk shows.
Some lawmakers say North Carolina's taxes are acceptable.
''When you put the whole tax burden together, I think we have a pretty good place to live,'' said state Rep. Nelson Cole, a Rockingham County Democrat.
He said lawmakers have no choice but to raise taxes this year.
Legislators have to look at North Carolina's needs, he said, and not worry about how it ranks with other states.
''I don't think we necessarily look at that,'' Cole said. ''That's just a barometer that's out there.''
Nonsense, said state Rep. Harold Brubaker, a Republican on the other side of the tax talks.
''If you get your tax out of kilter, if you're going to be higher, people are going to flock to lower-tax areas,'' said the former House speaker from Asheboro. ''That's why it's critical to keep them in a good balance.''
He wishes the state had placed even lower on the list of how much earned income goes to taxes and won't support calls to raise them.
The Democrat-controlled legislature is pondering various tax hikes, including levies on liquor, managed care companies and personal income greater than $ 200,000.
Gov. Easley, a Democrat, last week suggested that lawmakers instead raise the state sales tax 1 percent.
North Carolina already ranks among the highest states in personal and corporate income tax, with $ 3.96 of every $ 100 made here going to those levies, ninth-highest in the land in 1997-98.
The state ranked 12th in the percentage of all income going to fuel taxes and 13th in alcohol taxes.
Some lawmakers say taxes will have to get higher. And though no one likes to lose more of their income, some taxpayers agree it's the right thing to do instead of cutting services.
''Not having a tax increase and devastating persons with special needs is just not the right way to go about it,'' Ewald said.
Others also have come forward urging people to support higher taxes to improve services.
Several local preachers lobbied people to support giving more money to the Guilford County Schools, even if it meant a tax hike, which it did.
''Nobody wants tax increases, but unfortunately the underpinnings of so many of our programs are at stake,'' Ewald said. Contact Paul Muschick at 883-4422, Ext. 231, or pmuschick@news-record.com
News & Record
August 19, 2001
By Paul Muschick
Staff Writer
If you're going to talk taxes with Tony Moschetti, pull up a comfortable chair - but not too close. Moschetti tends to get loud when cursing governments for taking too much of his paycheck.
''It's a subject that just angers me to no end,'' the High Point insurance agent said.
Karla Ewald isn't so loud, but supporters of higher taxes are rarely heard over tax opponents. The Greensboro woman would rather pay more so the state doesn't cut services.
''The level of service that we are talking about cutting would be catastrophic,'' said Ewald, executive director of the Association for Retarded Citizens of Greensboro.
North Carolina lawmakers and Gov. Mike Easley have yet to decide who they will appease as they debate whether to raise taxes. As they argue, one thing is
clear: Both Moschetti and Ewald have a point.
North Carolinians already pay plenty of taxes, especially gas and income levies, and people in other states pay less.
But plenty of people pay more, too. North Carolina isn't even close to being one of the heaviest-taxed states when all state and local taxes are considered.
Governments erase less from our paychecks than the national average.
The state and local governments took nearly $ 11 of every $ 100 earned in North Carolina in fiscal 1997-98, ranking the state 30th in the country. That does not include federal taxes.
When compared on a per-capita basis, or tax-per-person, the state ranks 33rd at $ 2,557, also lower than the national average.
The comparisons, from an annual survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, were released last month and are the most recent available. They include all taxes - property, income, sales, corporate and others.
Maine had the heaviest tax burden, with people paying more than $ 14 of every $ 100 earned to state and local taxes; New Hampshire ranked lowest at about $ 9.
People like Moschetti say North Carolina needs to do better because the state is taking a bigger hit in these hard times than other places. North Carolina experienced the sharpest drop in employment in the nation from May to June.
''They continue to raise the taxes of the people of this state while they're losing jobs,'' said Moschetti, a former member of the Guilford County Mental Health Board who has criticized public officials of all sorts in person and on radio talk shows.
Some lawmakers say North Carolina's taxes are acceptable.
''When you put the whole tax burden together, I think we have a pretty good place to live,'' said state Rep. Nelson Cole, a Rockingham County Democrat.
He said lawmakers have no choice but to raise taxes this year.
Legislators have to look at North Carolina's needs, he said, and not worry about how it ranks with other states.
''I don't think we necessarily look at that,'' Cole said. ''That's just a barometer that's out there.''
Nonsense, said state Rep. Harold Brubaker, a Republican on the other side of the tax talks.
''If you get your tax out of kilter, if you're going to be higher, people are going to flock to lower-tax areas,'' said the former House speaker from Asheboro. ''That's why it's critical to keep them in a good balance.''
He wishes the state had placed even lower on the list of how much earned income goes to taxes and won't support calls to raise them.
The Democrat-controlled legislature is pondering various tax hikes, including levies on liquor, managed care companies and personal income greater than $ 200,000.
Gov. Easley, a Democrat, last week suggested that lawmakers instead raise the state sales tax 1 percent.
North Carolina already ranks among the highest states in personal and corporate income tax, with $ 3.96 of every $ 100 made here going to those levies, ninth-highest in the land in 1997-98.
The state ranked 12th in the percentage of all income going to fuel taxes and 13th in alcohol taxes.
Some lawmakers say taxes will have to get higher. And though no one likes to lose more of their income, some taxpayers agree it's the right thing to do instead of cutting services.
''Not having a tax increase and devastating persons with special needs is just not the right way to go about it,'' Ewald said.
Others also have come forward urging people to support higher taxes to improve services.
Several local preachers lobbied people to support giving more money to the Guilford County Schools, even if it meant a tax hike, which it did.
''Nobody wants tax increases, but unfortunately the underpinnings of so many of our programs are at stake,'' Ewald said. Contact Paul Muschick at 883-4422, Ext. 231, or pmuschick@news-record.com
News & Record
August 19, 2001
Friday, August 17, 2001
Election report bares liberals' hypocrisy
After reading your ''idiotorial'' on Aug. 8 concerning the ''messy'' election system and detailing many of the problems with the last election, I must wonder.
Is one a liberal because one is ignorant and dishonest, or is one ignorant and dishonest because one is a liberal?
You liberals, who went apoplectic over Florida, would not listen when many of us tried to tell you that what happened in Florida was no aberration - that the same problems occurred in almost every state and have happened in every election. It has taken a team of ''experts'' eight months to figure out what some of us knew all along. You continue to speak of ''uncounted'' ballots as if someone (Katherine Harris, of course) took perfectly executed ballots and tossed them in the trash, thereby ''disenfranchising'' the paranoid among us.
In fact, machines kicked out improperly executed ballots.
Now you want a holiday to vote. Is it too much to ask today's citizens to do what Americans have done without problem for 225 years? If you can't spend 15 to 30 minutes one day every four years to vote, you probably shouldn't be voting.
This is just a ploy to give the unions, who already have a holiday on Election Day, even more time to round up folks, take them to the polls, and direct them to vote for Democrats even if they know nothing about the person for whom they are ''voting.''
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
August 17, 2001
Is one a liberal because one is ignorant and dishonest, or is one ignorant and dishonest because one is a liberal?
You liberals, who went apoplectic over Florida, would not listen when many of us tried to tell you that what happened in Florida was no aberration - that the same problems occurred in almost every state and have happened in every election. It has taken a team of ''experts'' eight months to figure out what some of us knew all along. You continue to speak of ''uncounted'' ballots as if someone (Katherine Harris, of course) took perfectly executed ballots and tossed them in the trash, thereby ''disenfranchising'' the paranoid among us.
In fact, machines kicked out improperly executed ballots.
Now you want a holiday to vote. Is it too much to ask today's citizens to do what Americans have done without problem for 225 years? If you can't spend 15 to 30 minutes one day every four years to vote, you probably shouldn't be voting.
This is just a ploy to give the unions, who already have a holiday on Election Day, even more time to round up folks, take them to the polls, and direct them to vote for Democrats even if they know nothing about the person for whom they are ''voting.''
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
August 17, 2001
Saturday, July 14, 2001
Florida vote critique just liberal claptrap
Six months after the fact I'm still being bombarded with the never-ending liberal lunacy. This current dose emanates from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, paragons of political correctness run amok, and purveyors of paranoia. We're told ad nauseam about the ''disenfranchisement'' of a single group of voters in Florida and elsewhere. I hear this same term used repeatedly by the self-anointed leaders of America's eternal victims, so I looked it up in the dictionary.
Disenfranchised: ''Generally too ill-educated, stupid or ignorant to perform simple tasks such as walking into a voting booth and following elementary instructions. Unable to find simple four-letter words such as 'Gore.' Cannot follow a large arrow leading to a circle where the 'franchised' among us simply punch a hole or make a mark.''
That sounded rather harsh until I later learned that great numbers of 6-and 7-year-olds were able to complete the task correctly.
Word has it that this same esteemed commission suggests one more Florida recount, this one to be conducted by the Gore family, James Carville, and the Florida Supreme Court. The tally would include, but not be limited to, those who really wish they had voted for Gore, those who really wish they could understand enough English to read and understand voting instructions so they could vote for Gore, and most important, those who didn't make the effort to vote but now wish they had and would have voted for Gore if they had.
The recount will be overseen by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
July 14, 2001
Disenfranchised: ''Generally too ill-educated, stupid or ignorant to perform simple tasks such as walking into a voting booth and following elementary instructions. Unable to find simple four-letter words such as 'Gore.' Cannot follow a large arrow leading to a circle where the 'franchised' among us simply punch a hole or make a mark.''
That sounded rather harsh until I later learned that great numbers of 6-and 7-year-olds were able to complete the task correctly.
Word has it that this same esteemed commission suggests one more Florida recount, this one to be conducted by the Gore family, James Carville, and the Florida Supreme Court. The tally would include, but not be limited to, those who really wish they had voted for Gore, those who really wish they could understand enough English to read and understand voting instructions so they could vote for Gore, and most important, those who didn't make the effort to vote but now wish they had and would have voted for Gore if they had.
The recount will be overseen by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
July 14, 2001
Wednesday, May 30, 2001
The Democrats fuel corrupt government
Wonder why the Democratic Party symbol is a jackass? They should be renamed the Demagogic Party.
They've had no new idea since Social Security. They call the tax cut ' 'massive'' when it's only a fraction of what we've been overcharged during the past eight years. Then we hear ad nauseum the worn ''tax cuts for the wealthy''
rhetoric.
Their definition of fair is to give tax cuts to those who pay no income taxes, then demagogue the tax-cutting issue for those who actually pay most of the taxes. They can't ''afford'' to let us keep our own money. They call tax reductions ''spending.'' The ill-informed who populate this once-great country believe it.
If you purchase an expensive item, then discover you've been grossly overcharged, do you tell the merchant, ''Just keep the difference, or you can give it to your needy neighbor?'' Hardly. You want your money back.
What if he tells you he ''can't afford'' to return your money because he must buy prescription drugs for his wealthy parents so their friends will shop at his store? Would you say, ''Gee, great idea. Next time, overcharge me again and take your family on a junket to the Caribbean?'' Well, if you're a Dumbocrat you might, but most of us would contact the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General.
The same people who go ballistic over a $ 1.50 ATM fee remain silent as they 're overcharged hundreds to thousands of dollars each year by our corrupt government.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
May 30, 2001
They've had no new idea since Social Security. They call the tax cut ' 'massive'' when it's only a fraction of what we've been overcharged during the past eight years. Then we hear ad nauseum the worn ''tax cuts for the wealthy''
rhetoric.
Their definition of fair is to give tax cuts to those who pay no income taxes, then demagogue the tax-cutting issue for those who actually pay most of the taxes. They can't ''afford'' to let us keep our own money. They call tax reductions ''spending.'' The ill-informed who populate this once-great country believe it.
If you purchase an expensive item, then discover you've been grossly overcharged, do you tell the merchant, ''Just keep the difference, or you can give it to your needy neighbor?'' Hardly. You want your money back.
What if he tells you he ''can't afford'' to return your money because he must buy prescription drugs for his wealthy parents so their friends will shop at his store? Would you say, ''Gee, great idea. Next time, overcharge me again and take your family on a junket to the Caribbean?'' Well, if you're a Dumbocrat you might, but most of us would contact the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General.
The same people who go ballistic over a $ 1.50 ATM fee remain silent as they 're overcharged hundreds to thousands of dollars each year by our corrupt government.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
May 30, 2001
Sunday, February 25, 2001
Florida vote problem remains unexplained
So, elections will never be the same after Florida 2000. I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me what happened in Florida that was substantially different from what happened in every other state, and every previous election in Florida and elsewhere. We were told ad nauseam by the Democrats, and repeated faithfully by their lapdogs in the mainstream media, that every vote must be counted. Every vote was counted, many ballots were not. There were two to four million ballots not counted nationwide.
We do know that 2,000 to 3,000 felons were permitted to vote in Florida. We didn't hear Democrats complaining about that. In fact, Democrats have been lobbying to put voting booths in prisons. At the same time, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., wants to move voting locations off military bases to make it more difficult for overseas military personnel to vote.
The reason many ballots were rejected in Florida and elsewhere is that far too many citizens are not literate enough to read and understand some very simple voting procedure instructions. There was a directly proportional relationship between illiteracy rates and voting problems in each county.
Despite this obvious fact, the ''nonpartisan'' (consisting of four liberal Democrats and four liberal independents) U.S. Civil Rights Commission conducted a sham ''hearing'' to blame the Republican governor and secretary of state for voting and ballot problems in three counties where the entire election apparatus was controlled by Democrats, including the design of the infamous butterfly ballot, and use of punch cards.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
February 25, 2001
We do know that 2,000 to 3,000 felons were permitted to vote in Florida. We didn't hear Democrats complaining about that. In fact, Democrats have been lobbying to put voting booths in prisons. At the same time, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., wants to move voting locations off military bases to make it more difficult for overseas military personnel to vote.
The reason many ballots were rejected in Florida and elsewhere is that far too many citizens are not literate enough to read and understand some very simple voting procedure instructions. There was a directly proportional relationship between illiteracy rates and voting problems in each county.
Despite this obvious fact, the ''nonpartisan'' (consisting of four liberal Democrats and four liberal independents) U.S. Civil Rights Commission conducted a sham ''hearing'' to blame the Republican governor and secretary of state for voting and ballot problems in three counties where the entire election apparatus was controlled by Democrats, including the design of the infamous butterfly ballot, and use of punch cards.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
February 25, 2001
Thursday, September 30, 1999
Federal tobacco stance is epitome of hypocrisy
So, Janet, ''Please let me keep my job,'' Reno, consigliare to the Clinton crime family, after saying in 1997 that the government had no legal standing to join the lawsuit against the tobacco industry, has not only changed her mind, but has somehow decided to use the RICO statutes - created to combat organized crime - to attack a legitimate industry producing and selling a legal product.
Furthermore, the corrupt, hypocritical government not only sanctioned, but subsidized this product, and is the No. 1 profiteer from the product. More than 60 cents of every tobacco dollar goes to government in taxes.
That is more than goes to the growers, makers, distributors and sellers combined.
The greed and arrogance of this government is unprecedented in our history.
It is the government that should be sued for conspiring to cause the deaths of millions of citizens by permitting this dangerous product to remain on the market some 30 years after requiring warning labels detailing tobacco's dangers.
Products less damaging, such as alar or red dye No. 6, were banned with little or no proof that they were harmful.
But then, the government crime family did not reap billions in profits from those products.
We can by simple choice avoid tobacco; we cannot escape the dangers from our own out-of-control government as in Ruby Ridge or Waco.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
September 30, 1999
Furthermore, the corrupt, hypocritical government not only sanctioned, but subsidized this product, and is the No. 1 profiteer from the product. More than 60 cents of every tobacco dollar goes to government in taxes.
That is more than goes to the growers, makers, distributors and sellers combined.
The greed and arrogance of this government is unprecedented in our history.
It is the government that should be sued for conspiring to cause the deaths of millions of citizens by permitting this dangerous product to remain on the market some 30 years after requiring warning labels detailing tobacco's dangers.
Products less damaging, such as alar or red dye No. 6, were banned with little or no proof that they were harmful.
But then, the government crime family did not reap billions in profits from those products.
We can by simple choice avoid tobacco; we cannot escape the dangers from our own out-of-control government as in Ruby Ridge or Waco.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
September 30, 1999
Tuesday, July 06, 1999
Tobacco settlement cash belongs to the taxpayers
In a recent editorial you advised state lawmakers as to how to dispose of some of the funds extorted from the tobacco industry in a recent settlement.
The funds are supposedly a reimbursement for medical payments made by the state to cover tobacco-related illnesses. First, since it is reported as factual that all treated illnesses were due to the use of tobacco, I must assume that all of the affected patients were at or near their recommended weights, ate low-fat diets, exercised at least three times a week and had no family history of their particular illness.
Second, the state did not pay for medical treatment; the taxpayers of the state paid. Since they confiscated the money from me to pay for medical treatment for people I don't know, and since they then extorted those funds again from the tobacco industry, there is but one honest option as to the disposition of said funds: They should be returned to taxpayers.
Why does that simple logic escape our corrupt lawmakers and apparently you in the Fourth Estate, whose duty it is to be a watchdog over government excesses?
You instead become shills for corrupt politicians.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
July 6, 1999
The funds are supposedly a reimbursement for medical payments made by the state to cover tobacco-related illnesses. First, since it is reported as factual that all treated illnesses were due to the use of tobacco, I must assume that all of the affected patients were at or near their recommended weights, ate low-fat diets, exercised at least three times a week and had no family history of their particular illness.
Second, the state did not pay for medical treatment; the taxpayers of the state paid. Since they confiscated the money from me to pay for medical treatment for people I don't know, and since they then extorted those funds again from the tobacco industry, there is but one honest option as to the disposition of said funds: They should be returned to taxpayers.
Why does that simple logic escape our corrupt lawmakers and apparently you in the Fourth Estate, whose duty it is to be a watchdog over government excesses?
You instead become shills for corrupt politicians.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
July 6, 1999
Thursday, September 17, 1998
Liberals only get upset when they're in trouble
God gave us liberals for two reasons: for comic relief and to be able to study brain damage without traveling to the nearest asylum. You assail the independent counsel law, a law that liberals loved for 20 years when Democrats controlled Congress and used the law to harass Republican administrations. When the Nixon, Reagan and Bush administrations were targets of these partisan witch hunts, we didn't read of your outrage. You hypocrites loved this law so long as it appeared that Democrats would control its implementation.
Did you ever complain of Walsh's seven-year, multi-million dollar vendetta?
Were you outraged as Ollie North's father was dragged before the grand jury as you were about Monica's mother? Were you outraged when Casper Weinberger was indicted on the Friday before the 1992 elections even though it was common knowledge he, along with George Schultz, were the most vehement opponents of the arms sales? Were you outraged when the Democratic speaker told us that even the most ludicrous of charges had to be investigated, such as that George Bush had been taken to the airport in the trunk of a car so he could fly to Iran to make a deal to keep Americans hostage until after the election? Were you outraged when Charles Colson was jailed for releasing a single FBI file? The only difference between this administration and Nixon were tape recordings and John Dean. Without them nothing could have been proven.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
September 17, 1998
Did you ever complain of Walsh's seven-year, multi-million dollar vendetta?
Were you outraged as Ollie North's father was dragged before the grand jury as you were about Monica's mother? Were you outraged when Casper Weinberger was indicted on the Friday before the 1992 elections even though it was common knowledge he, along with George Schultz, were the most vehement opponents of the arms sales? Were you outraged when the Democratic speaker told us that even the most ludicrous of charges had to be investigated, such as that George Bush had been taken to the airport in the trunk of a car so he could fly to Iran to make a deal to keep Americans hostage until after the election? Were you outraged when Charles Colson was jailed for releasing a single FBI file? The only difference between this administration and Nixon were tape recordings and John Dean. Without them nothing could have been proven.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
September 17, 1998
Wednesday, July 08, 1998
Stop youth smoking; it prevents addicted adults
Tony Moschetti's letter mentioned that only 2 percent of cigarettes are consumed by teenagers (June 30). While this may be true, teenage smoking is much more important to the health of our citizens and to the tobacco industry than that percentage would imply. Ninety percent of smokers start to smoke before they reach 18. If a person does not start before 18, there will be little likelihood of that person becoming a smoker.
By preventing the 90 percent of smokers from becoming addicted to nicotine, one can eventually prevent 90 percent of the 400,000 deaths a year attributable to tobacco.
I agree that alcohol and drugs are problems that should not be ignored, and they cause the deaths of innocent people, but the total damage from tobacco is greater. Seventy percent of adult smokers want to quit, and if raising the price of cigarettes by a tax provides incentive to make many of them quit, that would be great.
The tobacco companies would not have achieved immunity from future lawsuits had the scuttled McCain Bill become law. With the revelations exposed by the recently released documents (discussed in Doug Campbell's article June 28) it is doubtful immunity from lawsuits will ever be provided to the tobacco companies by Congress.
I applaud the News & Record for printing that article, which provides a glimpse of how vulnerable the tobacco companies are, and why they sought the agreement with the states' attorneys general. How fortunate we are that Congress is so deliberate.
Richard J. Rosen
Greensboro
News & Record
July 8, 1998
By preventing the 90 percent of smokers from becoming addicted to nicotine, one can eventually prevent 90 percent of the 400,000 deaths a year attributable to tobacco.
I agree that alcohol and drugs are problems that should not be ignored, and they cause the deaths of innocent people, but the total damage from tobacco is greater. Seventy percent of adult smokers want to quit, and if raising the price of cigarettes by a tax provides incentive to make many of them quit, that would be great.
The tobacco companies would not have achieved immunity from future lawsuits had the scuttled McCain Bill become law. With the revelations exposed by the recently released documents (discussed in Doug Campbell's article June 28) it is doubtful immunity from lawsuits will ever be provided to the tobacco companies by Congress.
I applaud the News & Record for printing that article, which provides a glimpse of how vulnerable the tobacco companies are, and why they sought the agreement with the states' attorneys general. How fortunate we are that Congress is so deliberate.
Richard J. Rosen
Greensboro
News & Record
July 8, 1998
Tuesday, June 30, 1998
Bill wouldn't have stopped teen smoking
Your editorial concerning the tobacco bill shows once again your lack of understanding of nearly everything about which you comment. This bill is about hundreds of billions of dollars to fund spending programs, tax cuts, fill the pockets of the vultures known as personal injury lawyers, huge contributors to the Democrats and letting our beloved president claim a balanced budget.
Every state has laws prohibiting underage smoking. Teens account for approximately 2 percent of tobacco use. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that 34 percent of smokers are those who earn less than $ 15,000 annually. These who can least afford it will be hit the hardest by the miserable hypocrites who claim to be the benefactors of these very people. If the concern is teen smoking, why not a single word said, or single dollar spent on illegal drug or alcohol use, which cause the deaths of thousands of teenagers each year?
Politicians will reduce teenage smoking at the same rate they have reduced drug use, teen pregnancy, lowered cable bills, conserved water with the new useless toilets, saved children's lives with airbags and eliminated poverty.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
June 30, 1998
Every state has laws prohibiting underage smoking. Teens account for approximately 2 percent of tobacco use. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that 34 percent of smokers are those who earn less than $ 15,000 annually. These who can least afford it will be hit the hardest by the miserable hypocrites who claim to be the benefactors of these very people. If the concern is teen smoking, why not a single word said, or single dollar spent on illegal drug or alcohol use, which cause the deaths of thousands of teenagers each year?
Politicians will reduce teenage smoking at the same rate they have reduced drug use, teen pregnancy, lowered cable bills, conserved water with the new useless toilets, saved children's lives with airbags and eliminated poverty.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
June 30, 1998
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