Getting spending, taxes under control crucial
We need to hold our representatives accountable for years of overspending that have resulted in budgets consumed with unsustainable entitlement spending.
The budget crisis is just that: a budget crisis. We need to address our spending priorities as soon as possible.
Once priorities are established and we once again have a balanced budget, we should completely overhaul the current Washington government delivery model and restructure to a more modern, integrated, cost-efficient system.
There seems to be universal agreement the current tax system is complex and corrupted.
We need to immediately pass a broader and more simplified tax plan.
With a balanced budget on the horizon and clarity on taxes, we will all be able to make sound investment decisions.
As long as politicians require that these issues be tied together (and timelines to action dictated by election cycles), we will remain in a social and financial malaise.
Richard A. Clark, Decatur
Don’t force jobless into community service
Regarding “Bill would require state’s unemployed to volunteer or lose benefits” (ajc.com, Nov. 30), I am employed full time and (hopefully) will continue to have employment. I know I am lucky to have a job.
To force the unemployed to perform at least 24 hours a week of community service does not make sense.
The unemployment wage rate is low and usually just a percentage of what the person earned prior to being unemployed.
Now, they would have to spend more money on transportation. It does not make sense. Three days a week of service would leave two days to search for a job. People who are unemployed are stressed enough without having to worry about finding and fitting in 24 hours of service.
Community service is often given as part of sentencing when a crime has been committed.
Some DUI offenders are told to do 40 hours of community service.
Yet, people who are not working (and struggling to make ends meet) would get 24 hours a week.
This bill is discriminatory. Lawmakers need to go back to the drawing board on this one.
Laurie Russell, Duluth
Chicken, T-shirt dispute smacks of arrogance
Regarding the intellectual property battle between Chick-fil-A and Mr. “Eat-More- Kale” Bo Muller-Moore:
This is yet another irritating example of corporate arrogance and overreach. Until such time as Chick-fil-A relents, I will be skippin’ the “chikin.” Dr. William M. Redwood, Avondale Estates
