Letters: Taxing the rich, Amy Sedaris
TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: Time for some of your thoughts on the stories we’ve been covering. Many of you were not so eager to gobble up commentator David Frum’s thoughts last week. He said we should not raise taxes for the rich, because they’ll just find ways to avoid paying them.
John Hallinan of Stoughton, Wisc. asks what the alternative is.
John Hallinan: If the rich and their apologists are so sure that the tax increases for the rich are a bad idea, they need to come up with a realistic plan not only to reduce the government deficit, and to reduce the disparity between the rich and poor. These twin evils will inevitably destabilize our country.
Also last week, David Brancaccio visited two parts of Virginia, rich and poor, for our Economy 4.0 series.
Michael Abraham lives in Blacksburg, the poor part. He says we missed the bigger story.
Michael Abraham: Ever since Lyndon Johnson declared his war on poverty, people have been coming to the central Appalachians and talking about how poor and destitute everybody is. I think the real issue is that there are corporate and governmental policies that have kept this area poor.
And this week, retail analyst Marshal Cohen told us that one day retailers will track in-store behavior by monitoring e-mails and cell phone calls.
Caroline Rupp of Boulder Creek, Calif. says that comment made her nearly jump out of her socks.
Caroline Rupp: Say what? I thought even the NSA needed a warrant to monitor my phone calls. Please tell us they’re planning to get customers’ permission before eavesdropping. Not that I can imagine how they could induce a rational person to agree to such intrusion.
Finally, our interview with humorist Amy Sedaris touched some nerves, especially her crack about people with bipolar disorder. Tim Wilson of West Hollywood, Calif. wrote, “Sedaris’s piece is pure mockery and hurts people like me who are struggling and at the same time seriously pursuing creative expression.”
On the other hand, Amanda Craig of Mill Creek, Wash. said, “Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed so hard while listening to Marketplace. Thank you for embracing the dark humor found in the lighter side of life.”
Let us know if we’ve made you laugh, cry or want to throw your radio out the window.
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