Letters to the editor: Tax cut plan, Puerto Rico, Idaho Freedom Foundation

Tax cut

H.R. 332, passed by the House, calls for a one-time tax refund in 2021 and annual reductions into the future. However, if passed by the Senate, this bill puts Idaho in peril of repaying the Federal government dollar-for-dollar for this net tax break. If this happens, how would these funds be repaid?

Raising our Idaho taxes? Or further cuts to our children’s schools? Gutting Medicaid? Cutting disabled services?

See for yourself the independent analysis provided on the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy website.

You will see H.R. 332 would benefit lowest earners approximately $78; while the highest 1% $8,863.00. Meanwhile, the cut to the corporate tax rate, at an overall cost of $17 million per year, would primarily benefit shareholders of Idaho-based corporations who live in other states and abroad.

Please read the analysis, and decide: Is this tax cut — benefiting the wealthiest the most — truly worth the risk? If not, then give your Idaho senator a call to state that you don’t want ANY tax cut that puts Idaho taxpayers in a position of having to pay back this tax cut later.

Christine Sugg, Nampa

Puerto Rico

Recently, the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act was introduced in Congress with the goal of honoring Puerto Rico’s recent vote in favor of statehood. This bill would finally give a real voice in Congress to the American citizens in Puerto Rico, and I hope Rep. Russ Fulcher will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Raul Labrador and support statehood for Puerto Rico.

Our founders rebelled against the crown in large part because of taxation without representation. Puerto Ricans pay many federal taxes, yet have no voting representation in the Senate, cannot vote for president, and have one representative in the House — who cannot vote for or against bills on the House floor (including bills that increase taxes on the citizens in Puerto Rico). To fulfill the American principle of a government by the consent of the governed, and honor the recent free and fair election results on the island in favor of statehood, Congress must act.

Rep. Fulcher serves on the Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico’s status, and is in a position to support the vision of our founders and the people of Puerto Rico by co-sponsoring the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act.

Junko Agena, Meridian

Rotten apples

Idaho has some intelligent, dedicated legislators and practical-minded rural and urban voters.

So why so many dysfunctional bills and votes?

The worm poisoning our legislative apple is the Idaho Freedom Foundation funded by dark money from right-wing corporate extremist groups like State Policy Network, ALEC, Koch Foundation and the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Their “bill mills” write legislation and instruct our elected officials to promote their extremist agenda.

Why does this matter? These corporate billionaires don’t share Idaho values and don’t care about us. They use disinformation and scare tactics to mask the intent of bills that increase their profits and reduce their taxes. They want to privatize everything and divide voters, so the IFF attacks issues like public education, social justice and Medicaid, and uses language to get us Idahoans to hate and fear our neighbors. Why?

The ALEC puppet masters cozy up to officials from Risch and Fulcher down to commissioners and mayors. Although it claims nonprofit status, the IFF lobbies (if it walks like a duck?), promotes corporate bills, and uses an index to “persuade” legislators to vote “right.”

Requiring legislators and IFF to disclose their financial interests would make this issue more transparent.

Lois Morgan, Boise