The following is what our readers sounded off about:
Have respect for others
I'm responding to "Just stop talking." The person called in to say stop talking so much, and the next caller said, shut up. Wow, times have changed. No wonder the kids of today have no respect for their elders, if people go around to say shut up. In my days, it was "be quiet" or just "quiet." That's how I learned. So, I guess anything goes, but no wonder our society is the way it is. For the person who said "shut up," you should say "be quiet" or "quiet, please." You should have respect for other people.
Big plans for Limestone
I feel the city of Batavia should approve, in full, the Limestone Cafe's request for a loan. They are trying hard to re-establish a business, and they are so dedicated in succeeding. Give them a chance, please. That being said, why, Limestone Cafe, do you want to compete against businesses surrounding you, serving similar products? My suggestion for a hot spot would be East Wilson, by the new businesses there. You will attract a diverse collection, industrial, bank employees, city, fire department, Heritage House, Holmstad and even people at Curves could drop in after a workout. You have a bigger demographic and less competition. Just saying.
America needs change
Let's put politics aside, which keeps it simple. What has our president accomplished since he was elected? I'm not interested in the rhetoric of the vision, hopes or dreams of what should have been or could have been or what might have been, rather only in what is. Are we better off today than we were when he promised so much? When I say better off, I'm not talking about unemployment dropping one or two percentage points from 8 percent-plus, or saving a few thousand jobs and spending billions of dollars to do it. I have no doubt he has tried his best. I have no doubt that he meant well with his Obamacare … and a lot of other visions, hopes and dreams that failed to come through over the last four years. However, we have to face the reality of what is. Are the country and its taxpayer citizens better off today than three-and-a-half years ago? The undeniable facts and documentations say no. In some areas, we are at a higher level, such as the devaluation of the dollar and the debt to China, which is much worse. And the size of our government has become so inflated it is almost unmanageable. America needs change now. The change was promised to us three-and-a-half years ago, and it's going to be up to us in November to make that happen.
The opposite way
Barack Obama has another negative ad hitting the airwaves. He has nothing positive to say about himself, so his latest propaganda clip attacks Mitt Romney for not paying enough in income taxes. Obama attempts to foment anger toward Romney by taxpayers for paying “only” 14 percent of his income to the government. Obama doesn’t mention in the ad that 14 percent of Mitt Romney’s income amounts to $2,800,000 on an income of $20 million. Also, Obama doesn’t mention that he believes that someone lucky enough to earn $20 million should be forced to pay $10 million to our spendthrift politicians. Obama’s ad doesn’t mention that Mitt Romney paid the required amount he owed and doesn’t mention that most of Romney’s income is in the form of investment gains. That means that the earnings he has now come from income that was previously taxed at much higher tax rates. In essence, he is paying double taxation on his current income. As usual, Barack Obama understands the situation in the opposite way that it should be. People able to invest money that they have left over from their taxed wages shouldn’t face higher tax rates but preferably they should not be taxed at all on earnings they make by taking on investment risk. Does Barack Obama have any other ideas for growing our economy other than taxing the rich, squandering money on green energy and printing more food stamps? Those ideas don’t generate economic growth in any conventional economics book printed outside of Havana. Hopefully more than 50 percent of our population will understand that come Nov. 6.
Outside the box
I see the 2012 assessments are out, and my taxes are going up. Can we think outside the box? Rather than raising my taxes to pay the teachers, we could give them a house that has been foreclosed on for not paying taxes, in lieu of a pay raise. I have three on my street. You can add free housing to your list.
Funds have better use
Today is Aug. 12, and I don't know if other people, like me, have noticed all of these military helicopters flying low over our houses, protecting President Obama, and here they talk about cutting taxes for the middle class and education and all this stuff. And I'd like to know why Mr. Obama can't run on his record, rather than gallivanting around at $40,000 a person to have pope attend a fundraiser. I'd like to see that money to pay down the debt and I would also like an accounting of how much it has cost the U.S. taxpayers and civil service and the Department of Defense for protection of Mr. Obama while he's driving around all over the country, raising funds. I thought there was supposed to be a difference between funds in office and the funds in politics, and I can't understand. Why do we allow people who are currently in office, especially the president, when it costs probably millions of dollars, to fly those military helicopters? And why don't all you people look up the administration budget and see why Mrs. Obama has a budget.
• You can sound off, as well, by calling our Sound Off line at 630-845-5240 or by sending an e-mail to soundoff@kcchronicle.com. Calls must be limited to 1 minute or less.
