Letters to the Editor June 10

To help remove the politics from a simple issue - collecting sales tax/use tax on out-of-state sales (Internet sales), I offer the following.

Nevada currently has all of the power it needs to collect the tax on out-of-state sales. Sales tax/use tax is based on the purchase of tangible personal property at retail. The tax is payable to Nevada if it is delivered to Nevada. It is paid by the purchaser. In-state merchants are required, by Nevada law, to collect the tax from the purchaser and pay it over to Nevada.

Under the U.S. Constitution, out-of-state sellers are not required to collect the tax and pay it to Nevada. The purchaser is required to pay the tax to the state if it is not collected by the seller.

Nevada has not adopted effective measures to inform residents that they are required to pay the sales (use) tax to Nevada if it is not collected by the seller, on in-state or out-of-state purchases.

Nevada has not adopted effective measures that allow residents to pay the tax. Nevada government can collect all of the tax due from its residents under existing Nevada law.

John McKenna

Carson City

Janice Ayres should be ashamed of herself for misrepresenting the intentions of Paul Ryan, Dean Heller and Washington Republicans. Her accusatory column of May 31 represents political demagoguery designed to scare the hell out of seniors and cover up the dereliction of Democrats who failed to pass a 2010 budget that addresses the government's $14.3 trillion debt.

Ayres is dead wrong when she states that the Social Security Trust Fund has a $2.6 trillion surplus. She is delusional if she believes there is one red cent in the Trust Fund. The $2.6 trillion is represented by government securities which are nothing but IOUs In other words, the government owes Social Security recipients and future recipients $2.6 trillion with no dedicated resources to pay the money owed. It is a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

Thank heaven Paul Ryan and the Republicans have the courage to address the problems impacting Social Security and Medicare. If the liberal Democrats will listen to Bill Clinton and join the Republicans in formulating needed changes, there is a possibility these popular and needed programs can be preserved. Sadly, political demagoguery by the Democrats and the likes of Ayres will probably scuttle any meaningful progress.

Gary Thompson

Gardnerville

At their June 2 meeting, the Board of Commissioners under Item 7 held a discussion and possible action on funding options for road maintenance and repair.

They discussed three possible increases, 1 percent increase in the utility users tax, a 5 cent increase in the gasoline tax and a .25 percent increase in the sales tax. Their comments were indicative of their lack of the Republican philosophy of smaller government and lower taxes. How does raising any of these taxes create an atmosphere that attracts business or their expansion?

Commissioner Greg Lynn stated he was for adopting all three.

The utility users tax increase would raise $800,000 per year, the gas tax, $900,000 per year and the sales tax, $1.3 million per year.

That means Lynn favored taking an additional $3 million from our pockets - the already fragile Douglas County economy. All of these taxes are regressive - taking the money from those who can least afford it.

The commissioners settled on raising the gas tax by 5 cents per gallon. They felt that a lot it would be paid by travelers passing through and due to the competition, that the stations would absorb that cost and not increase the currently high cost of gas. They failed to consider that in order to absorb that cost, the operators may have to lay off an employee which would aggravate the already high unemployment and foreclosure levels which would decrease the county's revenue. More damage than benefit.

Stuart Posselt

Minden

As we focus on (Sarah Palin) as she kicks off a bus tour for unknown purposes, I have never been as dismayed about the future as I am today.

We have idiots like Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor, wholly ignorant of economic history dictating the economic debate. These fools dismiss decades of empirical evidence indicating the efficacy of Keynesian pragmatism to pursue the folly of Hooverism and austerity which have driven other nations into the toilet.

We are endangering our very existence as a species by poisoning ourselves with myriad chemicals, radiation from perfectly predictable disasters like Fukushima and our continued reliance upon carbon-based energy which is wreaking havoc on the planet's health.

What we need to do is end these counterproductive wars which are bleeding us white, restore tax rates to the level of Reagan, and institute programs like the Works Progress Administration to rebuild the infrastructure necessary to facilitate a 21st century economy. We need an Apollo- or Manhattan Project-level effort to build high-speed rail, wind, solar and geothermal alternatives.

As the people suffer, while more Americans are on food stamps than ever, while millions are kicked to the curb, I can only think of Steinbeck's stark warning: "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, heavy for the vintage."

Vince Coyle

Carson City