Applauds repeal of estate tax

Editor, Asheville Global Report,

Hooray for President Clinton, who has vetoed the estate tax repeal, and for those House members who have upheld it (who do not include— surprise, surprise— our own Charles Taylor). As mentioned in my recent letter, this repeal would have benefited only the wealthiest 2% of Americans, and would have cost the rest of us a pile of money in years to come.

Here are some figures that suggest that the rich have more than enough already, and that our democracy is being undermined by the growing gap between rich and poor:

*The top 1% of American households now have more wealth than the bottom 95%. Bill Gates’ wealth equals the combined wealth of the poorest 120 million Americans, or 45 percent of our population. If the $83.6 million compensation (salary plus stock options) of GE’s CEO were represented by the height of the Empire State Building, the building height of the typical US GE factory worker would be 8 inches.

* During the 1990s, the income of the poorest 20% of Americans increased less than 1%, after inflation, that of middle-income families less than 2%, while the incomes of the most affluent 5% of Americans jumped over 27%, and the top executives of corporate America saw their pay soar by 443%..

*In 1970, when some CEOs were making 35 times as much as their lowest-paid workers, management consultant Peter Drucker wrote that no self-respecting CEO should be earning more than 20 times their workers’ pay. By 1999 Business Week reported that CEOs were making 419 times the average pay of US factory workers.

*In 1998, a year of rising profits, corporate taxes dropped 2.5%; at the same time individual Americans were paying 6.2% more in federal income taxes.

The list could go on, but perhaps this is sufficient to demonstrate that the wealthy 2% of Americans who would have benefited from repeal of the estate tax have enough of a cushion already not to need this additional bonanza. It also makes clear that the less fortunate among us, many of whom are working full-time trying to make ends meet, could do with a bit more equity in the form of a living wage and benefits, universal health care, an equitable tax system, the elimination of corporate welfare, and a sizable shift in funding from the bloated military budget to medical, educational, and welfare services.

Doug Wingeier
Waynesville

Police . . . agents of conquerors

Editor, Asheville Global Report,

Last week’s letter regarding the use of the term “pigs” for police was well worded in terms of the disrespect shown for pigs when the word is used to describe a cop. But when it comes to Stewart’s analysis that “not all police are the enemy,” I have to disagree. As long as a police officer is employed by the State to enforce its laws, which are the laws of the conquerors and thus illegitimate, they are agents of those conquerors - every one of them. This is not to suggest that they are not human, or that they could never reject that role and become useful members of society someday. But while they wear the badge and gun, the least we should ALL be doing is applying social pressure on them that will remind them that they DO have opponents, and make them think about what they are protecting and serving.

The direct action taken last month against the police cars was a great example of keeping up that social pressure, and exposing their vulnerability to encourage more direct action in the future. It left me inspired.

Help the police - BEAT YOURSELF UP!

Shanti LaSalle
Asheville

Thanks for Wal-Mart coverage

Editor, Asheville Global Report,

I am still in shock over the Board of Adjustments decision to deny the variance for the development of the Sayles Bleachery site for a Super-Walmart. As any activist knows, victories are rare. The battle is far from over and we move now to perhaps an even tougher battle to keep a Super Walmart from being built in S. Asheville at the old Gerber site. But I want to express our deepest gratitude to the staff of AGR, for keeping the public up to date in this struggle. You have been an integral part of this community effort, without which the recent positive turn of events could not have happened.

Bill Evans
Asheville