Dear My Senators

[Peter]

THIS LETTER IS WRITTEN IN MY CAPACITY AS A CITIZEN AND HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OAG.

Senator Nym90, Senator Texasgurl,

I urge you in no uncertain terms to vote against the Tax Amendment that will attempt to make tax rises possible only with the consent of 2/3 of the Senate.

This sort of action would only lead to higher deficits, as the Senate still needs to be able to spend money, but without the ability to easily raise taxes in a time of crisis, it would just have to borrow on the credit of the US. In the event that the Balanced Budget Amendment was also passed, then it would in fact unnecessarily handicap the Senate in the event that higher spending might be necessary for some reason.

Whilst Texasgurl knows that I will be voting for Al, I would just like to stress upon you both how important I consider this issue to be.

Regards,

Peter Bell
Fort Wayne, Indiana

[The Dowager Mod]

Who you plan on voting for has no bearing on how i vote on bills.

[Nym90]

I strongly oppose this amendment. I agree with the sentiments expressed by my honorable constituent. This bill would unnecessarily hamper the government's ability to respond to a myriad of problems, such as education, health care, defense, and homeland security.

[TeePee4Prez]

My new organization opposes this Amendment as well.

[Gabu]

I echo Peter Bell's opposition to this amendment.  I must say that I am disappointed to hear from a senator such an overly simplistic view of "tax cuts good, tax hikes bad".  What's good is doing the appropriate action at the appropriate time. What's bad is making it harder to do one thing than the other, even when the first thing is the appropriate action to take.  If the economy needs a tax cut to provide it a kickstart, then a tax cut is good.  If the government is spending money in a completely wasteful manner that should be eliminated, then a tax cut is good.  If we're in the midst of a national crisis, then a tax cut is probably not good.

If a tax hike is a bad idea, it will be struck down, as has been done already with bills that have been introduced to the Senate.  There is no reason to make it even harder.

While there is an undeniable hatred of taxes that exists, it must be recognized that taxes are not just a monitary black hole that sucks in people's earnings, never to be seen again.  Taxes fund absolutely everything that the government plays a part in, including national defense, education, health care, and so on.  Taxes are a necessary evil, like it or not; without taxes, the government would be essentially defunct and a state of anarchy would emerge.

Do I support large amounts of taxes?  No, of course not.  I support making the government as streamlined as possible so it requires as few tax dollars as possible.  However, I certainly do not support making it harder for the government to collect the tax dollars that it needs if a crisis arises or something like that.