Lower taxes, more revenue

Lower taxes, more revenue

EDITOR:

With all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the economy, deficit and the Bush tax cuts, some headline worthy news was relegated to the back pages, if even mentioned, in most newspapers recently.

The U.S. Treasury Department has reported a sharply narrower deficit from the year earlier period. This was attributed to a record $2.1 trillion of tax revenue thus far this year. That is up 7 percent from the previous year.

It seems paradoxical that the Bush tax cuts would stimulate revenue growth but that has been demonstrated once again. Perhaps Youngstown born economist Arthur Laffer is correct that capital, unburdened by excessive taxation, will generate more revenue, not less.

LOREN KINDLER

Hubbard

Ban cruelty, not dog breeds

EDITOR:

If Youngstown City Council and the mayor’s office are so concerned about this “pit bull” problem, why aren’t they making harsher laws against those who participate in dog fighting and animal cruelty?

I haven’t heard of anything being done to the people that run these illegal dogfights in Youngstown. Dog fighting is a felony in the state of Ohio, so where are the arrests? Banning a specific breed of dog does not fix any kind of dog control problem that any city might have. In fact, dog bans have been proven not to work for cities like Denver, were the number of pit bulls greatly increased after the ban. Miami Dade County also banned pit bulls in 1989 and by 2002 there were over 50,000 in the County. Why? Simple, people want what they can’t have.

Breed-specific legislation doesn’t work on many levels. First, these laws tend to be based solely on the appearance of the dog in question. Twenty-five different breeds of dogs get mistaken for pit bulls. We have a mix dog that our vet can’t tell us for sure what he is, so how is a police officer supposed to know for sure if a dog is a pit or not? This is not just an issue for pit bull owners; this is an issue for dog owners.

Each generation has its own “vicious” dog. In the 1960s it was the German shepherd, then it was the Doberman, then Rottweiler, now it is the Pit Bull Terrier.

I noticed that the Staffordshire Terrier (aka the Staffy) was included in this possible ban in Youngstown. Do the council members know that the Staffy has never been responsible for a human fatality?

The sad fact is that people make these dogs into the vicious dogs that we do read about. No dog is inherently vicious. They are made that way by abuse and neglect. We don’t need a blanket law that just bans a specific breed of dog. We need tougher laws against animal abuse and cruelty. We need to make sure that people follow established laws such as leash laws. And we need to educate our children on how to properly interact with dogs, and how to care for their own dogs.

City Council and the mayor’s office should do the proper research before jumping on this anti-pit bull bandwagon.

NICOLE DENNO

Warren

No TV for OSU and YSU

EDITOR:

YSU vs OSU. Wow! What an opportunity and thrill for our area. Too bad most of us will not be able to experience that particular thrill. It's very sad that not one of our local stations or cable systems will be broadcasting it.

A satellite dish is looking really good right now.

There are so many people in this area that have attended one or both of these fine schools. Most of us will not be able to attend the game for any number of reasons. It would have been nice to sit in my own home and watch it regardless of the final score. The only losers in this game will be the people of the Mahoning Valley who want to watch the game but won't be able to.

Here's to you Coach Heacock and Coach Tressel. Have a wonderful game Saturday. You are great coaches and very nice men. My brother Paolo admired both of you and was a huge fan of both schools. I'm guessing he now has the best seat in the house.

BETTY PATTERSON

Canfield