Letters, Nov. 13, 1978

Voters and Taxes

To the Editors:

The problems of inflation and taxation [Oct. 23] are not things the White House can do much about. The source of the trouble is Capitol Hill, and as you say, in the coming election nobody expects any radical changes in party strengths. The voters keep mindlessly sending back to Washington the same people who have been in control for most of the past 50 years. In the absence of a one-term limitation on Representatives and Senators, who are more concerned with their perpetuation in office than with the public good, the best thing we could do would be to clean house in Washington at every election.

Richard F. Barrett

San Jose, Calif.

Tax cuts? That's nothing. They do it every year. Now let's put the grease where the squeak is. Let's see the politicians cut spending; the tax cuts will take care of themselves.

Jerry Sturdivant

Bishop, Calif.

Being students at a liberal arts college, we know procrastination. "All nighters" are often necessary to get papers out. However, these rarely result in first-class work. Was it necessary for Congress to pull an all nighter to get national legislation out? No! We therefore humbly award Congress a B—

Mark Collins

John Jacobs

Bill Emerson

Middlebury, Vt.

Sure, a $15 billion tax cut for individuals sounds awesome. However, when it translates into $5 a week for my family and this is more than offset by the increase in Social Security taxes, I am hardly pleasantly surprised. And the politicians wonder about the current mood of the people. I do not feel Congress got the message; apparently it got lost somewhere in the mail.

Sue Raby

Goode, Va.

Everybody worries about how big the tax load is. Isn't anybody worrying about how badly the tax load is distributed? Doesn't anyone think an unjust and unsound tax system might be the cause rather than the result of an economy sick with inflation and unemployment?

Lawrence D. Clark Sr. Medfield, Me.

Pulse of China

Congratulations on the brilliant special report on China by Michael Demarest and Carl Mydans [Oct. 23]. A perfect blending of the pictorial and reportorial, making one feel the pulse of modern China, whose doors are now being reopened to the rest of the world.

Kenneth Lagerstedt

Buzzards Bay, Mass.

Gosh! Gee whiz! Golly day! Now how about letting us hear from the thousands of escapees who risked their lives to leave Utopia.

Shari Myers Smyth

Etters, Pa.

I am a 5-ft. 8-in. blond" with a big nose. I feel, however, that I could endure the heckling about my appearance, the cramped CAAC flight and even the absence of french fries and Di-Gel if Mr. Demarest would take me with him to China the next time he goes.

Deborah Hite Todd

Meridian, Miss.

I'm awfully sorry to say so, dear gringos, but I'd a million times rather live in China than the good old U.S.A., with its crime, violence, pressures and Coca-Cola culture.

Frank Valerius

Guatemala City

Reflection of a Song