Historical fact and teabagger fiction
Given that the inconsistencies, mistruths and outright lies of the far-right proposal for a balanced budget amendment are too numerous to count, I will only focus this letter on one of the most egregious violations of fact — namely, the willingness to invoke the memory of the founders when arguing the validity of such an amendment.
The historical reality is that the founders had the wisdom, forethought and real-world experience to recognize the importance of incurring public debts in times of crisis and opportunity. Had the founders not incurred debts during the revolution, our current constitutional republic would not have come to fruition. The founders again invoked the right to incur public debt when they negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and defended the new republic from invasion during the War of 1812.
I do not mean to suggest that these historical events equate to our current crisis (the founders were certainly not Keynesians, nor were they privy to the concept of the modern welfare state), but it is important that we respect the wisdom of the founders without attempting to confine them to our own restrictive political ideologies (right, left or otherwise).
— Seth Morris
Salisbury
Good news, people
Good news. One of the annexation gang is gone. Let’s remember the rest on the Nov. 8 election and get them out of office. We have been annexed for four years and we still don’t have anything to show for our tax money except higher taxes. Please, people, let your voice be heard and vote. Vote them out.
— Charles Black
Salisbury
Thanks for effort
The Salisbury Symphony wants to thank everyone who voted for the Pepsi RefreshEverything grant during the month of July. We had hoped to win $10,000 to help pay for teachers and new instruments for the After-School Strings program. We did not finish in the top-15, so we did not garner the grant. But we still feel like winners, knowing our community supports arts education! Thank you to all who helped!
— Linda Jones
Salisbury