Letters to the Editors

Entrepreneurs create new jobs, not government

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 8, 2000

Re: Gore returns, looks to stem GOP tide, Aug. 5.

In a speech to the firefighters union on Friday, Vice President Al Gore stated that his administration had created 22-million new jobs. The idea that the federal government, other than occasionally fattening its own bloated bureaucracy, creates jobs, is as erroneous as the thought that Al Gore created the Internet. Mr. Gore, the federal government does not create jobs in the civilian sector, I do. I am entrepreneur.

I am the middle-age couple who decided to achieve a life-long ambition, risk their entire savings, maybe take a second mortgage on the house, to open their own restaurant. I, the entrepreneur, hired a chef, a souse chef, waiters, buspersons, a hostess. I created jobs.

I am the plumber, who, after working years for the same company, bought my own truck and started my own business. After a few years, I had three trucks and three plumbers and two apprentice plumbers working for me. I created jobs.

I am the young man who took his entire credit card cash advance allowance and started a telemarketing company with just three new positions. After two years, I now have 80 employees, more than half of them minorities. I created jobs.

I am the developer who built malls, hired hundreds of construction workers, provided the opportunity for hundreds of additional sales and administrative jobs. And as a byproduct of that expansion I may have even created more firefighter and police positions.

I can go on and on, Mr. Gore, but I don't think you would understand. When you are out campaigning through this country, take the time to stop into some small businesses and ask the employees a very simple question, "Who hired you?" Ask the business owner, "Who created these jobs?" I don't think the answer will come back, Clinton and Gore.

So, Mr. Gore, the next time you want to take credit for something you did not do, think more carefully about what you are saying. Do not insult the millions of entrepreneurs who created this economy, nor the millions of hard-working Americans who keep it running without any help from Washington.
William Grom, Gulfport

Tax relief should be good news

Re: Maybe it is tax-free; it sure isn't guilt-free, Aug. 3.

I enjoyed reading Mary Jo Melone's guilt-ridden column regarding the Republican initiative called tax-free week. Liberal journalists have such a warped view of things, their views are always humorous to read.

I would like to address a few misconceptions that many have about tax-free week:

1. The tax relief is meant for all, not just for a certain income bracket. We all pay taxes, so we are all given this opportunity to take advantage of this program. Gee, that's fair.

2. Tax-free week is good for the taxpayer and business.

3. A lot of us do not have "the herding instinct" and probably will not even take advantage of this tax relief opportunity.

Though I personally prefer a genuine across-the-board tax cut, I give our Republican lawmakers credit for at least giving us the opportunity to keep some of our hard-earned wages.

It would be interesting to find out how many of people who shopped during tax-free week were against any sort of tax cuts. We hear all of the time how the public is against tax cuts! According to Melone, the malls are crowded. Hummmmmmm!

I know Gov. Jeb Bush reads the Times, so I -- and I'm sure many others -- would like to take this opportunity to thank him and the Legislature for giving the taxpayer some relief.
So, don't feel guilty, Ms. Melone. The money you are spending and the taxes you save are your money! Enjoy!
Robert E. Guthrie, Seminole

Don't pass down the debt

Candidate George W. Bush said in his acceptance speech, "The surplus is not the government's money, it's the people's money."

I have a hypothetical situation: I owe $5,000 on my credit cards. I have $2,000 in the bank that I have been using to pay off these debts. I bought a $2 scratch-off lottery ticket and won $2,000.

My question is this: Do I have a surplus?

The way I see it is that there is no such a thing as a surplus as long as you owe more than you have in assets.

The people who benefited when our government borrowed the money should pay these loans off with this so-called surplus. Why should our kids and grandchildren have to pay off these loans?
-- Donald F. Kelly, St. Petersburg

Wariness of corporations is warranted

Re: Nader isn't the person you remember, by Paul Krugman, July 29.

It would be logically fallacious and quite unnecessary to attack the mischaracterization of Ralph Nader as an "extremist" by reference to professor Krugman's affiliations with MIT and the New York Times, both servants of the entrenched corporate power structure in this country. Indeed, his uncritical rejection of Nader's "general hostility to corporations" speaks for itself.

By Krugman's compartmental economic calculus, no doubt, the contributions of major corporations to the gross domestic product represent the only legitimate yardstick for assessing their impact on society. Claims that the pernicious influence of large corporations have diminished democratic processes, exacerbated economic inequality, impoverished the natural environment, contributed to social chaos and otherwise served to dehumanize and disfranchise the average person by elevating crass consumerism to the status of a religion come only from "kooks" such as Ralph Nader.

That over the last 150 years or so corporations have progressively succeeded in blurring the distinction between themselves and natural persons, now regularly referring to themselves as "good corporate citizens," should be cause for alarm. The recognition of corporations as legal persons in the constitution of a state, as has taken place recently in South Africa, raises corporate usurpation of personhood to a new and dangerous level, which Nader has rightly criticized.

Every voter in the coming election should pause to consider supporting Nader's candidacy for president, and the Times should endeavor to spend more time focusing on the merits of his platform, and not simply those of the two major party candidates.
-- Sidney W. Kilgore, Ozona

A chilling political goal

Re: GOP rallies around goal: Just win, Aug. 4.

I got a chill when I read the quote in this story from Warren Norred, a conservative delegate to the Republican National Convention. He said, "We want desperately to win. That's the only way we are going to take back the Supreme Court. For us, it's all about the court."

I know that the opportunity to appoint justices and possibly change the direction of the Supreme Court is in the minds of every presidential candidate, but to hear it stated so bluntly, so matter-of-factly on the front page of your paper frankly scared me to death.

I would like to see this quote picked up by the opposition and printed in full-page newspaper ads, shown on TV, and placed on billboards to let everyone know that this faction is still very much there. And while in previous years they were rallying around Pat Buchanan, who did not have a snowball's chance of actually winning the presidency, this year they are coming home to roost in George W.'s coop.
-- John Elliott, Palm Harbor

Beware their strategy

Re: 2000 Republican National Convention.

One has to be brainless to not comprehend the change in the Republicans' way of portraying themselves at this time.

They have learned from President Clinton how to win an election.

They will tell the people what the people wish to hear, but will they fulfill what they are saying?

The Republicans are desperate to hold the majority in the House and Senate. With a Republican president who will not veto some of their very strong conservative ideas, they will return to their original ways.
-- Joseph Abramowitz, Dunnellon

Sex education vs. sex ignorance

Re: Republican aversion to sex education, by David Broder, Aug. 1.

Let's wake up, people. Children are having sex today at much younger ages than ever before, and it's not because of too much education about condoms and birth control. I am a middle school teacher, and I am faced daily with the reality of teens having sex. And I am not allowed to instruct them in any way on how to have safer sex. The Republican way to remedy this problem is to teach abstinence and abstinence only. That is not only naive but neglectful to our children.

Of course, I agree that children should abstain from sex. The emotional and physical consequences are grown-up issues that children are now dealing with at an alarming rate. Even though we probably all agree that sex is best left to adults, children are still going to do it. Just like experimentation with alcohol and drugs, children will often experiment with sex. Abstinence is not a reality.

The conservative Republicans in Congress are ignoring the health and well-being of our children. Yes, let's keep teaching abstinence as the best choice, but let's teach our children how to arm themselves for protection. We agree that war is something to abstain from as much as possible because of the threat of losing lives, but sometimes war happens. George W. Bush wouldn't send a soldier to war without a weapon. That's what he and other Republican congressmen are doing to our children. Let's educate our children so they aren't going to battle unprotected.

We hope they choose to wait until they are adults before having sex. However, ignorance is not something I would want to be armed with. I would much rather be educated. And I want the same for my child.
-- Angela Streetman, Largo

A Napster fan

I am an avid Napster user and the idea of losing Napster seems almost like a downfall of my computer existence. Just about all my friends have it and think it's a great resource to download and listen to some of the music they have interest in buying. Not only that, some of the music I have downloaded is old music that I can't even find in music stores.

Many Napster users are coming together at Napstermania.com to announce their boycott of artists like Metallica and Dr. Dre. You would think these artists would at least be quiet about it. Having 13-million potential CD buyers a little upset with them could hurt them more than people downloading a few songs on Napster.

As far as I am concerned, if Napster doesn't last, I will just go to the other sites such as Scour. The only way "pirating" of music will be taken away will be through the downfall of the World Wide Web (which we all know WON'T happen) and the removal of the "Record" button from all the stereos. Long live Napster!
-- Jenna Knippen, St. Petersburg

Let's have some Lotto limits

Re: Golf course employees will share $65-million. Page 5B, July 25.

I wholeheartedly agree with Gene Duffy, owner of the gas station that sold the winning ticket, when he said he was glad the jackpot will be split 26 ways instead of going to one person. I have always felt this way, and I still do.

The way I see it, each of the winners will receive about $1.8-million, tax-free. If one invests $1.5-million in triple A, tax-free, 5 percent municipal bonds, he would net $75,000 per year, tax-free. He would also have about $300,000 of tax-free money to spend. This is not bad considering most of them did not make more than $25,000 a year, taxable.

As food for thought, I propose the following ideas. There should be a limit of $20-million on winnings by any one person or married couple with the excess going to the education fund. When the winning ticket is held by more than any one person or married couple, there would an upper limit of $40-million on the money split. Under this rule, the 26 people would have split $40-million and $25-million would have gone for education.
-- Richard Koslow, Gulfport

Don't hide the good news

Re: Forecast of hurricanes scaled back, Aug. 4.

Where did I find this article? On the bottom of page 5B! The original forecast was on page one. A worse forecast would also have been on page one.

Isn't good news worth reporting? I'm happy about the scaled-back prediction and not the least bit sympathetic with the news media's disappointment.
-- Bob Coffey, Clearwater

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