Editor, OBSERVER:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with much fanfare, has announced a gift of $1 billion to the Buffalo area for the creation of jobs and the growth of the economy.
Rubbish.
Some 150 years ago, the British economist John Stuart Mill warned us of this policy. "It is no longer supposed that you benefit the producer by taking his money, provided you give it to him again in exchange for his goods. There is nothing which impresses a person of reflection with a stronger sense of the shallowness of the political reasonings of the last two centuries, than the general reception so long given to a doctrine which, if it proves anything, proves that the more you take from the pockets of the people to spend on your own pleasures, the richer they grow; that the man who steals money out of a shop, provided he expends it all again from the same shop, is a benefactor to the tradesman whom he robs, and that the same operation repeated sufficiently often, would make the tradesman's fortune."
If the governor truly wanted to spur economic growth in New York, he would cut our taxes by that billion dollars and leave the money in our pockets to spend and invest as we think best for ourselves and for our families. The old New York ploy of taxing workers and businesses to create new workers and businesses hasn't worked in the half century it's been tried.
New York businesses continue to close and New Yorkers continue to move away. The taxes we pay to create our fortune are just too high.
CRAIG HOWARD,
South Dayton
Constitution gives
us our freedoms
Editor, OBSERVER:
Hopefully by now you see a theme with my views; I am definitely to the "right" of the proverbial aisle but it's so much more than that.
I believe in America and America was founded on principles and a little thing called the Constitution. I believe going against the very thing that has allowed for America's existence and our way of life is the utmost atrocity that one can commit.
Since this way of life began years back, millions of Americans have fought and died to preserve it and millions of others from other countries have fought and died to have what we have. Yet now more than ever when we need the Constitution, we find that most know little of it and those that do, generally, go against it for personal/political gains.
It's so important to understand the Constitution because as I said above, this is the very thing that allowed for America's existence and our way of life, a way of life that millions have fought and died for and a way of life that we see threatened by our fellow citizens. Of course the irony is hilarious and sad because the anti-Constitution or constitutionally illiterate uses free speech to attack it.
As for the claims that the Constitution and those like Ron Paul who live and die by the Constitution are regressing America are simply absurd. First of all I don't see how limiting the government and protecting individual liberties can hold us back but more importantly, I think it's safe to say that since Washington was president, we've progressed quite well. And last I knew, the Constitution has been around since almost day one.
The Constitution isn't perfect and over time we have had to add to it to progress and evolve but this was done constitutionally and we can continue to do so, as we see fit. But first and foremost you must see the importance and understand it.
Think of the Constitution as the staple of freedom and the existence of America and your life. If you're a fan of America, freedom, and the benefits that go with it; then it's your duty to understand it so we can preserve it for generations to come.
NATHAN TUCCIO,
Jamestown
