Abolish school property taxes now
My wife and I are 28-year residents in the Schenevus Central School District, in our 70s, living on a modest fixed income. We desperately want to save our home! Over the years, incrementalism in unfunded mandates, outrageous school spending and budget-busting teachers' unions has outpaced the communities' income and ability to pay. We can no longer survive the burgeoning school taxes!
Democrat Speaker Sheldon Silver has arrogantly thwarted legislation that would abolish school property taxes in five years and allow seniors to remain in their homes. He and other progressive obstructionists impose financial hardships on homeowners, particularly seniors, by perpetuating confiscatory property taxes! Public schools are no longer local, in-touch, community institutions. Big Government with Big Unions control the schools; let Big Government pay for them!
The monopolistic K-12 school industry is pilfering homeowners' hard-earned income and life savings as a slush fund to cover its irresponsible, out-of-control spending and pathetic failure to manage the budgets! Where is the compassion, understanding and willingness of liberal educators to stop funding schools on the backs of the elderly who maintain the will, determination, and independence to live out their lives without being threatened by a power-lusting bureaucracy?
Historic action must be taken to "fundamentally transform" this abusive and unsustainable school-funding system. Losing our homes and property because of unaffordable school taxes is unconscionable and unconstitutional. Liberty and the right to own property are interdependent.
Governor Paterson is poised to strip funding from schools and municipalities and threatens to cut the STAR program. Teachers' retirement funds are in deficit! How will bureaucrats replace these shortfalls in their sacred "entitlements"? They will ram more and massive taxes down the throats of struggling homeowners!
Tax-trodden residents must demand that lawmakers abolish school property taxes now!
George Smith
Worcester
Still waiting for promised change
One of the reasons Democrats gained control of the Senate and why we have a Democrat as president is because the majority of Americans that voted put them there, and they put them there to change a few very important things _ like health care reform unaffordable for more than 30 million Americans and an end to a war that seems endless.
For more than a year now, I see no change as we leave it in the hands of people who for the most part have sons and daughters who will never serve in the military and who also have access to one of the best government-paid-for (Cadillac) health plans this country has to offer. It seems like the "Republicrats" are afraid to vote its citizens any kind of health care reform, stating it will cost too much.
Sorry, I do not believe this. I have been told since I was a kid that we are one of the richest countries in the world. I feel if my country can afford to crash rockets with cameras on Mars, build aircraft carriers and military bases across the globe that cost billions _ if not trillions _ to maintain, and appointed us the police force of the world, it surely can afford to give its citizens what other civilized countries already have had for years _ government-run health care and a college education that won't leave our children with massive tuition bills.
Unfortunately, I think all that insurance and pharmaceutical lobby money has tied their hands. Boy, can we use a change. They just don't get it. It's the economy, stupid. It's the high cost of health care, stupid. It's the endless war, stupid. Hope they get it now.
Joseph T. Scianablo
Cooperstown
