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Archived Opinion

A stealth attack on the working class

To the Editor:

Unless Congress comes to its senses and rejects the misguided tax legislation currently being considered, working people — the solid middle class — of Western North Carolina and throughout the United States will be hard hit during the next 10 years. On the other hand, the wealthy — those with incomes of more than $1 million a year and the super wealthy, those with incomes of more than $10 million a year — will reap enormous benefits from having bought and paid for so many members of Congress.

Will some working people see a modest reduction in income taxes from this bill? Yes. But many won’t see any, and nearly everyone except the top 10 percent will lose those gains because individual tax reduction provisions are temporary while corporate tax reductions are permanent.

But it gets worse. In order to pay for those “temporary” reductions, the country will add more than $1 trillion to its debt. And, as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan noted recently, there will be severe reductions to Medicare, Medicaid and scores of other programs that serve deserving working people, their parents, their grandparents and their dependents.

We must stand up against this stealth attack on working people. Voters who have never contacted a senator or congressman are now demanding they vote against the tax bill. Everyone should make that call.

Phillip Price, a working man who stands up for working people, is running to “repeal and replace” Congressman Mark Meadows. Price is right on “real” tax breaks for the middle class. He’s right on healthcare reform. He’s right on the environment. He’s right on equality and equal treatment for all. Price offers a pivot in the right direction.

Dennis Frobish

Maggie Valley