Letters to the editor | Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019: Corporate taxes, pit bulls, health care, impeachment

Close corporate tax loopholes

As a mother of three children and a community member, I am very concerned about the state of education in the Central Valley. Even within the same school district, there are often big differences in resources. I see overcrowded classrooms, a need for more teachers and a lack of solutions as resources are stretched so thin.

Education is our future. In a rural community like ours, if you don’t have access to a good education you can’t do much. What kind of job will you be able to get? What kind of future will you have? There is a growing need for healthcare workers, yet we are not investing in our children to prepare them for these types of jobs.

Because of corporate tax loopholes, money that should be going into our schools and local communities is withheld and we see the impact every year as parents and teachers pay for supplies out of our own pockets. As a community we need to get informed so that we can fight this trend of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and make sure that every student has the same opportunities.

Make businesses pay fair share

I wonder if California voters know how much homeowners have been taken advantage of by businesses and corporations of California?

When Proposition 13 passed some 40 years ago all our property values (froze at) 1978 appraised value and could rise each year by no more than 1 or 2%. This resetting included all businesses and corporation property values. From then on property values could only increase if and when our homes were sold. I’ve sold a home three times, and each time, values and taxes went up. Corporations and big business have managed to get around this tax increase. The loophole in Proposition 13 is that a corporation rarely sells land. Corporations are bought and sold all the time but the buildings are included as a corporate asset. As a result there is no change in market value of the land and buildings and therefore no tax increase. But you and I pay each and every time we buy and sell a home.

Want to close this loophole and make property taxes fair? Vote for the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act on the 2020 ballot.

Support 2020 ballot initiative

I am a Modesto resident and I am concerned about education reform and the corporate tax loopholes that large corporations and property owners are taking advantage of. I’ve seen my brother, who is a special education school teacher, pay out of pocket for simple school supplies because the local school districts are underfunded. If we removed the corporate tax loopholes related to property taxes, it would increase local school funding.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to pay their fair share and this is a large portion of funds that we are missing out on simply because of greed. It’s not the responsibility of our teachers to pick up the slack because corporations are side-stepping paying their fair share in property taxes. Everyone should support the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act because it will close these unfair loopholes.

Horrific dog attack recounted

On the morning of Nov. 15, I was walking my two Doxies in LaLoma Park. We were approached by a loose pit bull which proceeded to rip out the throat of one of my dogs. My sweet Lilly was trying to protect me and my other dog.

I was 30 minutes from my vehicle. I want to sincerely thank the couple who ran up to help. The gentleman carried my bleeding dog, while I ran to get my car. His clothing was covered with blood. My dog was injured so badly, she had to be put to sleep.

I have been traumatized and heartbroken by this. My other dog will not leave my side. There is an empty place in my home without my dear Lilly.

Wake up, fellow Modestans. If one more person tells me what a good breed pit bulls are, I will just vomit.

It is not safe to walk your small dogs. I had pepper spray with me. I did not even think to use it. I witnessed the horrific death of my Lilly and I will never be able to erase that from my memory.

Government wasn’t paying attention

Re “Eight children removed from feces-filled home in Newman” (Page 3A, Nov. 18): The police in Newman pulled eight children out of their home because CPS once again did not do their job. What is the agency good for if they can’t take our youngest citizens out of a really bad living situation? I am next to sure that the mess found by local police was not created in only three days. Another epic failure.

On hospital bills and insurance

Our healthcare system is insane. It’s not fair to go to a hospital and have no idea what you’re being charged until you get the bill. Insurance companies decide whether you get that service or not. Who said they are God, to decide your fate? The hospital should let you know what something is going to cost, even a ballpark estimate. Hospitals and insurance companies play games with the cost. They can’t tell you how much it costs to fix a broken leg. The insurance gets to pick and choose what they will pay for. Why is that, if you are paying for insurance? It’s not fair to the person who is hurt or in bad health.

We also need protection for people with pre-existing conditions, but the current administration wants to undo that. We are talking about people’s lives. No matter what, politicians’ healthcare costs are covered. We pay for that. This system needs to change.

Just look at the timeline

During the elementary part of each child’s education, use of a calendar is part of every curriculum. It’s as ingrained as the alphabet. This basic ability seems to escape GOP congressional representatives.

Arms to fight our global nemesis, Russia, were withheld in August. They were withheld on the contingency that Ukraine would investigate some conspiracy theories regarding the Biden family. There is no longer any disputing this scenario, since it has been supported by several representatives to that country, as well as members of Trump’s administration. A whistle blower brought this to the attention of Congress in September, for which our intelligence heads were grateful. In short order, the Ukrainians got the promised defense help from our government.

Without the patriotism of the whistle blower, our president may have extorted information to undermine an American presidential election, in exchange for arms to fight one of the worst global players, when it comes to our democracy. To get caught extorting an ally to undermine the sovereignty of an American election and placing our national security at risk is an impeachable offense. It’s not rocket science; timelines are as simple as A-B-C.

Why can’t he show some respect?

After President Trump’s disparaging tweet Friday morning during Ambassador Yovanovitch’s testimony to Congress, I am reminded of Joseph Welch’s response on June 9, 1954, in the Army-McCarthy hearings: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” That response changed history.

Hopefully the public will finally ask, “Mr. President, have you no sense of decency?”

This should be obvious

At some point in the future, there will be a president from a different political party. Suppose that president, facing a tough re-election fight, calls on the leader of a small country allied with the U.S. and demands investigation of a political opponent, instructing the leader to work with the president’s personal attorney on that investigation while threatening to withhold military assistance.

I think (columnnist Jay) Ambrose — and other conservative commentators — would loudly demand the impeachment of that president and defend those who brought the event to light. The involvement of the president’s personal attorney would make it obviously a political act, well outside the scope of normal foreign policy. And whatever the Republican opponent — or their family member — might or might not have done years earlier could not justify that president in withholding military aid, particularly when that aid is desperately needed and plainly in our national interest. As Sen. Arthur Vandenberg — a conservative Republican — said back in 1948, “politics stops at the water’s edge.”

Ballot choices limited elsewhere

It is very disconcerting that six states have canceled all Republican candidate names for president on Primary ballots except for Donald J. Trump. Consequently, registered Republican voters in Nevada, South Carolina, Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota and Alaska have no voice unless they wish to change their political party or leave the presidential choice blank. This is not freedom of choice at the ballot box. Not all Republicans want to re-elect President Trump and their differing choices will be silenced.

This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor | Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019: Corporate taxes, pit bulls, health care, impeachment."