Pols need to tax the rich to support Social Security
I watched the recent Republican presidential debate and saw they are no different than the Democrats. Neither care about the middle class other than at election time because we are the majority and they need our vote so they can ignore us for another four years.
Let’s talk about Social Security as an example. Businessman and investor Warren Buffett has said for years that his secretary pays the same amount into Social Security that he does.
If everyone was charged 5% on their total earnings, Social Security could more than offset the cost of living for the middle class.
Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, Tesla and the social media platform X, among other companies, just received a $54 billion bonus. If he paid 5% of just that amount, it would put more than $2 billion into Social Security. Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, paid his ex-wife an estimated $37.5 billion in their divorce settlement. At 5% that would put almost $1.9 billion into Social Security. And let’s not forget Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the other billionaires and millionaires in America.
From a political standpoint, this is a terrible idea to politicians because these are the people who support them and they care more about getting reelected than they do about you and me. These are the same politicians who tell us they will raise taxes on the wealthy and lower ours. Have you seen that happen yet? Same old, same old.
When Franklin Roosevelt started Social Security, it was meant to ensure at the very least a modest living for the retired people of this country. Unfortunately, two Democrat presidents raided the fund and now it is running out of money.
This is certainly an easy fix if our representatives really do care about us. Do they have the guts to buck their parties and do what is right for their constituents?
Charles Brown, Naperville
Support bill to end ‘gratuitous’ wildlife killing contests
Dozens of wildlife killing contests are held across Illinois in January and February every year, resulting in the slaughter of many hundreds of coyotes, foxes and raccoons.
Few have heard of this blood sport, which involves competitors gunning down as many of our state’s vital native wildlife as possible for cash and prizes. Photos of the annual Midwest Coyote Fest, hosted by Hilltop Firearms, show children standing among piles of bloody coyotes, their bodies hung upside down from a scale to be judged for prizes that include a champion belt buckle. At least 166 were killed during the most recent event.
I was shocked to discover that these killing contests take place and are legal in my state, especially considering that 73% of Illinois voters support banning them, according to a poll by Remington Research Group.
Despite participants’ claims to the contrary, killing contests serve no legitimate wildlife management function. Prominent scientists and wildlife management professionals have condemned them as ineffective and counterproductive, and point out they can increase — not decrease — coyote numbers and create conflicts with livestock where there were none.
Wildlife killing contests also raise significant ethical concerns and violate longstanding principles of sportsmanship and fair chase.
I hope readers will encourage their Illinois state senators to prohibit this barbaric, wasteful activity by passing HB 2900, which has already cleared the Illinois House. Doing so would not reduce opportunities to hunt coyotes or hamper a farmer’s ability to use lethal control to protect livestock. It would simply end the gratuitous killing of animals for cash rewards.
Laura Cosenza, Aurora
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