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Letter to the Editor - Many Don't Get Misinformation

Letter writer came down too hard on voters

Stefan Schemine’s letter in Wednesday’s Dispatch includes a series of misperceptions that should be corrected. First, he decries that uninformed people actually vote. It appears that he believes that people should not vote if they cannot be informed about every candidate. I wonder how many judges he has been informed about when voting. Many people are working two or three jobs to make ends meet in this low-wage economy and don't have time to be fully informed. Should they not be allowed to vote?

An increase in the minimum wage would help everyone and the economy. Studies of states that have raised the minimum wage compared to those that have not show that the number of jobs tracks the same in both. Increasing the minimum wage does not decrease the number of jobs. What does happen is that those working at minimum wage have a little more money to spend on essentials, and they spend it all. This helps the places where minimum wage earners shop and the economy as a whole. As President Obama stated, no one working full time should have to live in poverty. If the original minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would now be $13 or $14!

Mr. Schemine argues that increasing taxes would not put a dent in our fiscal problems. He implies that taxes are too high already. The truth is that, related to the size of our economy, taxes are the lowest they have been since the early 1960s.The budget deficit is shrinking faster than at any time since World War II. I suggest Mr. Schemine expand his information sources.

John Lytle

This letter was published in the Columbus Dispatch on March 3, 2013 in response to the following letter published the previous Wednesday:

Many don’t get president’s useless agenda

I have seen many man-on-the-street interviews and talked to many people over the years, and can’t believe how politically ignorant many are. This really scares me because I believe a lot of these people vote.

How can anyone in this day and age, with the country in the state it’s in, walk into a voting booth and cast a vote for anything or anybody without knowing anything about either? How sad and damaging this is to the informed voter and the country. I wonder how many people who consider themselves informed voters realize what’s going on with President Barack Obama’s plan to tax those evil rich people, or with raising the minimum wage? I would venture to say very few.

To figure this out, one has to look at the numbers. First, one may look at the percentage of the populace that fall into the rich category. It is very small. Even if wealthy people were taxed at 100 percent, it would not put a dent in the nation’s fiscal problems. So the question is, why is Obama so dead set on raising their taxes? Does he not look at the numbers, or is he ignoring them?

Next comes raising the minimum wage. Studies have shown that when the government raises the minimum wage, it winds up hurting a large percentage of the people it’s supposed to help. Besides, the amount of the raise is not enough to bring anybody out of poverty. So what is Obama’s reason for doing so?

The backbone of America is the middle class, which most Americans are in. It is the group that pays the bulk of the country’s debt. There is no way that today’s middle class ever can pay off this debt, so that dumps it on our children and grandchildren. What a fine gift for them to start out their adult life.

What will it be like for them as part of the middle class?


- STEFAN SCHEMINE

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