Richard O’Brien’s recent letter to the editor is puzzling.
Where does he get his information? His discussion of taxes and “tax the rich” is totally out to lunch.
According to a recent IRS report, the top 1% pays a 25.9% average tax rate, nearly eight times the 3.3% average tax rate paid by the bottom 50%, and their share of income taxes paid was 45.8%.
Sounds like they pay far more than “their fair share.”
As for his statements concerning Project 2025, the thing that the hand-wringers forget is that the president may try to shape policy, but that policy has to be passed by Congress.
I find it odd that Mr. O’Brien knows so much about Reagan and his ideas. Reagan was an orator and a politician. He went with what he felt he could get passed through Congress, but he did have great ideas.
Whether he would endorse President Trump’s policies, I have no idea. I would suggest that Mr. O’Brien study the impact of President Biden’s nearly four years in office on our country and its economy.
He talks about the Republicans wanting to divide our country. I suggest that the Democrats have done a far better job of that than the Republicans could ever do.
He discusses how he grew up here and never locked his door or worried about crime. I would say that Ferguson and the Democrats in control of Washington state did much more to create our current crime wave. And rather than do something about it, they just passed laws making it more difficult to arm and defend ourselves.
Frankly, I think Mr. O’Brien needs to worry more about the atmosphere in Clark County than ours in Lewis County. Hopefully, we will sweep the Democrats out of our state and federal legislatures and get on the road to recovery. Our economy and position in the world were great until President Biden took office and changed everything for the worse.
Bruce Peterson
Centralia
