LETTERS: TAX-CREDIT EDITORIAL WAS DISAPPOINTING

To the editor:

I hope I can find the words to express my heartfelt disappointment in the view you expressed in your editorial, "Earned-income credit is new welfare attempt."

Perhaps it's because it is just days until Christmas, a time when the importance and the reason for giving are emphasized, that caused me to feel uneasy about the attitude you expressed. For whatever reason, my heart was stirred. The sarcastic remarks concerning the working poor and those who have found themselves at the mercy of welfare were not called for, but were cruel.

First of all, there is a vast difference in people on welfare and a family with two or more children and a household income of under $30,580. The working poor are those who earn enough money to be denied welfare but not enough to live on what they make. Those living on welfare can only live on what the government has decided they need to survive.

Your editorial gave the impression that to give was an insult. I was thunderstruck that you had the audacity to say, "It is time to lighten the burden on Missouri's most productive citizens," indicating that those on welfare and the working poor are not productive citizens.

I make far less than $30,000 a year, and I consider myself a very productive citizen. I was very productive for this very newspaper for five years, and I gave it all without expecting something in return. Nevertheless, who would say I was less than productive by offering my talent as a gift?

You stated that the earned-income tax credit proposal is a straightforward, no-bone-about-it scheme to redistribute wealth. With your "The rich should get richer" attitude, I say we need a Robin Hood to come out of the forest and to the aid of those who are being oppressed.

Have you read Proverbs lately? God speaks clearly about how one's attitude should be toward the poor. It is my prayer that your heart will be turned toward those who are in need as we draw closer to the birthday of the Lord Jesus our Savior.

RON FARROW

Cape Girardeau