Voter drive under attack from GOP

I have read with interest all the Republican Party and the Fox network attacks on the voter registration effort made by Organizing for America. It is very obvious that these attacks on the volunteer efforts of Democrats to register voters are simply an effort by the Republicans to throw up a smoke screen to take the focus for voter registration fraud off their party.

The Republican Party hired a firm that they knew had been accused of voter registration irregularities and voter registration fraud in the past. They actually requested the firm change their name so they could not be easily identified as a firm noted for fraudulent actions. They paid this firm large sums of money to handle their registration efforts and this firm was caught committing voter registration fraud in huge numbers all over the state of Florida on behalf of the GOP.

To cover this up the GOP and State Committeeman Bill Bunting have found one little incident by a volunteer for Organizing for America in making partisan comments when encouraging students on the importance of voting and tried to turn it into a big issue. In no way does this misstep by a volunteer compare to the huge paid effort of voter registration fraud committed on behalf of the GOP.

Volunteers for Organizing for America were required to go to a training class where they were instructed to act in a completely nonpartisan manner when registering voters. We were instructed to remove all buttons or other materials that would appear to be an effort to influence new registrants. We were volunteers and not recruited for pay or requested to change our identity to hide any previous accusations of voter registration fraud.

As volunteers we made a huge effort to see that any potential voter who wanted to get register could with no effort of coercing them one way or the other in how they would cast their vote.

Everett Houghtalen, New Port Richey

Penny tax hurts the less fortunate

Penny for Pasco? Almost 10 years ago Pasco instituted a penny-on-the-dollar tax increase borne disproportionately by lower-income citizens. Today, the major political parties agree that taxes on both middle-income and lower-income taxpayers are too high. Yet people seriously advocate renewing a discriminatory tax during a recession which has devastated the working class in Pasco? Are they heartless or brainless?

Affluent people don't spend all their income. Marginally employed or unemployed people do. A sales tax hits every dollar of a struggling family but is far easier on the dual-income, no-kids pairings and the wealthy who don't spend all they make, every week. They pay a lower effective tax rate than the poor — exactly what Joe Biden and Paul Ryan said is wrong with the current tax system.

Don't wait for the blowhards to break their promises. Cut taxes on the poor here at home and on yourself. Counties can't print deficit money. They'll have to learn to do what the public already does. Tighten up, live within their (our) means. Cut their addiction to easy money even if it's only a penny at a time.

Michael Muetzel, New Port Richey