LETTERS: SLIPPERY HANDS ARE SLIDING INTO OUR POCKETS

To the editor:

With the endorsement ink barely dry on the back of my tax-refund check, I feel the slippery hand of government trying to slide into my back pocket. The only genie that needs to be crammed back into the bottle, with as much force as possible, is the tax genie. By Cape Girardeau County auditor Weldon Macke's own statement, "We have a one-half percent county sales tax. This generates enough funds, coupled with fees, so that there is no county tax on real or personal property for the operation of the county's business."

The best thing that happened for Missouri taxpayers was the Hancock Amendment and the requirement for government to make its request for more taxes at the ballot box, at least in some cases. That is the way it should be. Reality is that taxes are pervasive, permanent and ever-increasing.

We don't need to find more ways to fill the government trough that all too often overflows with mismanagement and corruption. I sure hope "our county's future and your city's future" isn't based on an Internet tax.

It's the taxpayer who needs to decide when more money needs to be allocated to government for services. It is good civil servants like Macke, based on the fact he was retainedfor 35 years by the voters, who need to make us aware of and petition us for needs at the ballot box, not find ways to tax without our consent.

THOMAS C. GERBER

Cape Girardeau