Prices aren’t going to rise because of Biden’s tax proposal
I’m responding to Eric Tubbs’ Friday letter, “Rich won’t foot bill in Biden’s tax plan,” in which he asserts that raising taxes on people who earn over $400,000 will simply result in higher prices on “bananas, bread, autos, clothes and everything else.” He ends by saying that “taxing the rich is a fantasy, and Biden’s planned increase will fall back on the ‘sheep’ who fall for it.”
By Mr. Tubbs’ same logic, prices on bananas and bread should have fallen after Trump’s huge tax breaks in 2017 for businesses and people making over $400,000 per year. Did they? Of course not, because that’s not how the world works.
I’m a business owner, and it’s laughable to think that the rise and fall of my personal income tax obligation would have any impact on the prices for products and services my company offers.
On the other hand, conservatives loved Trump’s tariffs and “get tough” policies with our global trading partners. However, according to Reuters, the resulting trade war has cost U.S. companies $46 billion in retaliatory tariffs; and according to the American Action Forum, the tariffs have increased U.S. consumer costs by $57 billion annually.
So who are the sheep?
Barron K. Henley, Dublin
Netcare Access, law enforcement team up
For those of us working at Netcare Access, an ADAMH agency operating 24/7 as the crisis center for mental health and substance use in Franklin County since 1995, we were gratified to read Ted Decker’s Thursday column “Columbus can learn from death of NY man.”
Since July of 2018 with the Columbus Police Department and January of 2019 with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Netcare Access has been piloting a program where a trained and licensed crisis intervention social worker has been paired with a CIT trained officer to respond to the types of nonemergency and noncriminal calls mentioned in the article and have done so with great success. No fatalities experienced; suicidal situations de-escalated; trips to jail virtually eliminated unless active felony warrants appear; follow-up provided to citizens with excellent outcomes. This data comes from our experience with over 5,990 CPD runs and 1,554 FCSO runs having been made to date.
Individuals in crisis are instead referred home when stabilized or to Netcare Access, hospitals or linked with other local treatment providers. The data simply proves that this is an intelligent, cost-effective and compassionate course to take in Columbus and Franklin County, and we hope to continue in this important work.
King Stumpp, president & CEO, Netcare Access