Dec. 16, 2012: Our readers write

Good people still exist

After moving here in 2006 to be near my 87-year-old mother, I purchased a modest home, then decided I would have a new home built and move my mother in with me.

Unfortunately, before the house could be completed, my mother passed on. Then, five months and 28 days later, my “baby” brother passed. As if life wasn’t bad enough, on Thanksgiving morning, my eldest brother passed during his sleep. Then my personal nightmare began. The builder made changes to my home that were not authorized. I paid for a “hospital quality” air filtration system; I got the cheapest possible instead. Contaminants were sucked into my home and I breathed them into my lungs 24 hours a day. It was determined that mold was in the floor joints and I was getting sicker by the day. Finally, I was diagnosed with Aspergillus mold in my blood. The mortality rate for this condition if untreated is more than 95 percent. Fortunately, my doctor found the right medications and I began to improve.

I had given up all hope on humanity. I felt that no one cared if I lived or died. Then God intervened and my neighbors, the Whitehouses, learned how serious my condition was and immediately “adopted” me into their family and started taking care of all my needs to help me survive.

Then, four weeks ago, the VA showed its true colors and the nightmare got worse. The services that I not only wanted, but required and am entitled were canceled. All aid and transport was terminated. That left me alone with no way to get food or make medical appointments.

I contacted one of our U.S. representatives and both senators. To date not much has occurred. It would appear unless the cameras are around for a photo op, our politicians truly could care less about their constituents.

The only people I can rely on for assistance is that very caring, loving and giving family I met by accident.

Therefore, I would like to publicly thank the Whitehouse family: Thomas, his wife, Marion, and their three sons, David, Matt and Tim. Without their constant and true loving care, I surely would have met my demise by now.

Hopefully our political leaders will force the VA to reinstate my benefits or this will, in all likelihood, be my last Christmas.

Norman H. Walters
Elizabethtown

Congress, do your job

Politicians wanted to stimulate the economy in the year 2000. They devised a decade-long plan to reduce taxes in hopes of generating economic growth as a result of increased spending.        

Jeffrey Bennett, author of the book “Math for Life,” examined a hypothetical middle class family of four with an annual income of $100,000. His calculations showed an annual tax liability reduction of $1,500 for the family, or a total reduction over 10 years from 2001 to 2010 of $15,000.            

During the same decade the national debt increased by $9 trillion. The 300 million residents incurred $30,000 each of tax liability in the decade. The family of four increased its tax liability by $120,000.

The family’s tax liability increased by $105,000.   

Congress’s two-year deferral of action brought us to this fiscal cliff.

Notice the above reduction of tax liability amounts to 1.5 percent of the family’s income. Any family can solve this budget crisis. Price increases on food or fuel constantly confront families with decisions regarding allocation of income. The tax increase does not represent a cliff for the families, but for the Congressmen.  

Families can budget around the forfeiture of the tax reduction. However, families cannot solve the problems of the tax liabilities attendant to the assumption of extreme national debt. Families depend on their national representatives to solve these problems.            

So Congress, keep us from the abyss of national debt and let the people take care of the family budget. Reduce the debt and make the dollar stronger in the world economy. Reward the families with a vibrant currency.

Taylor Johnson
Elizabethtown