Letter to the Editor

For crying out loud, the USA is now supposedly up to a record 480 billionaires, but they don’t want to pay any new taxes.

A headline from the Associated Press on May 25 read , “Study: Typical CEO made $9.6 million last year.” On the local level, Hormel Foods CEO Jeff Ettinger’s compensation package for the 2011 fiscal year was reportedly worth nearly $9 million, according to the Herald. Still, we hear, “no new taxes.”

Down here in the shrinking middle class, I’m willing to ante up some additional federal taxes at the same time! Geez, that irresponsible combination of cutting taxes and starting two wars hadn’t been tried before in any history that I remember. I think big money should be willing to ante up, too.

Getting our federal budget back on track is going to take a balanced approach. I agree with the sentiment in a recent Herald letter to the editor: We do need responsible people to get our debt under control. Tim Walz voted for $2 trillion in cuts. Tim Walz supports a balanced approach in solving our financial crisis. That’s responsible in my eyes. Tim Walz believes our priorities are protecting Medicare, Social Security and veteran’s benefits.

I’m with him on that and I hope you will be with him, too.

Sandy Thatcher Jarvis,

Austin