Letters to the Editor 4-11-13

Caption faux pas
Editor: On the cover of the Sonoma West Times & News (April 4) I found a mistake in the article of the Easter bunny and egg hunt at Ives Park (Kiwanis 33rd Easter Egg Hunt). The writer, (David Abbott) wrote that the Easter bunny rode over to the park on the fire engine, but he did not ride over on the fire engine at all. The bunny walked over on foot. I myself did not go, but my brothers and grandparents did see the bunny did not ride over and that is why I am writing to the Sonoma West Times and News.
Olivia Irene Litwin
Age 10
Sebastopol
City policy
Editor: The recent edition of the Sebastopol Toxics Education Project (STEP) newsletter includes an exhortation to readers to lobby the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to not add fluoride to water provided by the Sonoma County Water Agency. The STEP editor, Patricia Dines has done a wonderful job over the years of educating us about alternatives to toxic chemicals and of course it is her right to express her opinion about fluoridation. The problem is that, since the newsletter is paid for and distributed by the City of Sebastopol, this gives the impression that opposition to fluoridation is official City policy.
The City Council certainly had the right to adopt an official policy in support or opposition. Since this is a very contentious issue and it is by no means obvious what how the people of Sebastopol feel about it, the Council needs to either make it official policy in a public meeting or make a public statement that the views expressed in the STEP newsletter do not represent public policy.
At the very least, they have an obligation to provide Sebastopol residents with information about the science-based position of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. This can be included in the next City newsletter.
Larry Robinson
Sebastopol
Cracking the code
Editor: I write to advise this county’s workers of an alternative approach to filing income tax returns. That is, follow the tax law as written rather than as public policy dictates. The 99 percent are paying far more than the law allows, and the original targets of the tax have long paid far less than the law requires.
This reversal of fortunes is the result of deliberate mis-information over the last seven decades since the voluntary “Victory Tax” was subsequently promoted as a mandatory excise, enforced as an un-apportioned capitation. Intimidation and prosecution ensured that non-taxpayers annually volunteer to be taxpayers and donate to the “national debt” interest fund of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Fortunately, tax law provides a simple remedy for this mistaken enforcement policy; the IRS provides the very forms needed to file a lawful return to get full refunds for those who qualify (private sector earnings). Get the full story at www.losthorizons.com, or buy the book, “Cracking the Code,” by Peter E. Hendrickson, now in its 13th printing.
Pat Palmer
Sebastopol
Immigration reform
Editor: Before the end of April, don’t be surprised if Congress passes some kind of immigration reform law. I hope it helps Hispanic families living throughout Sonoma County who have struggled under the pressing fear of deportation.
Stumbling, as I have to admit I sometimes do, to get through Easter’s annual explosion of bunnies, candy, and eggs, imagine my surprise when our gardener, whom I will call “Jose” for this missive, on the day after Easter presented my wife with a rose bush he’d grown over the winter from a cutting. No charge. I admire Jose a great deal as he’s been our friend and gardener for 25 years.
Its strange to me to read columnists like Charles Krauthammer, who wrote a piece titled “Immigration: The Trigger and the Poison Pill.” The gist of the article was that, while the Gang of 8 plus big labor and business are agreed on the primary aspects of this law, it could be derailed by congressional Democrats’ position on border security. Our border patrol has reduced the inflow of Mexican immigrants to San Diego by 92 percent by stretching triple stranded wire across the border, according to Krauthammer.
I’m no preacher but recall the Golden Rule. Jose, his wife and three hardworking born-in-America kids are just five out of 11 million souls to be affected by this legislation. Controlling our borders must be done, but I’m even more concerned by the Mexican drug cartels now entering. Hopefully, Congress gets it right without making law-abiding, God-fearing Hispanics, like my friend Jose, wait nine or 10 years to become an American citizen.
Frank Baumgardner
Santa Rosa