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<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Greetings Visionheads,<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Perhaps
some of you saw Frank Cheng's response (12/3) to my "Feeding at the
Trough" letter in the Daily News some time back. I've posted
this first letter below.<br><br>
To the Editor:<br><br>
In his letter (Opinion, 12/3) Frank Chang questions John Sperling’s
statistics in his book “The Great Divide,” but offers no proof to back up
his skepticism.<br>
He then appeals to the latest exit polls, the most flawed figures
available for voter opinions. (They pointed to a big Kerry win,
remember?) I’ve seen much more reliable surveys showing that it was Kerry
supporters, not Bushies, who had more education.<br>
Karl Rove confirmed this when he answered “those with PhDs,” when asked
who the Democrats’ base was. Bush handler-wrangler Karen Hughes
once declared that “one should not trust anyone who reads books.”
Many Republican voters seemed to have taken her advice.<br>
My Unitarian Church is filled with PhDs, and surveys of college and
university faculties show a large majority of registered Democrats.<br>
Mr. Cheng seems to have a very odd view of how tax revenues are
distributed. He appears to believe, for example, that rich Eastern
Washington farmers deliver their taxes in potato sacks stuffed with cash
to lazy Democrats in Seattle-Tacoma.<br>
The mechanics are of course quite different. Most of the large
subsidies for oil, gas, cotton, sugar beets, wheat, milk, and many other
commodities go straight to our red counties. It’s one of the main
reasons why third world countries that grow sugar and cotton cannot
compete.<br>
Urban industries such as finance, information technology, and
manufacturing are not subsidized, and the result is $800 billion in
federal funds flowing into the red states and counties.<br>
Some readers objected to the last map that I give on the 2004 election
(users.moscow.com/ngier/home/blue&red.htm), so I’m offering this more
accurate “America: Shades of Blue and Red” at
users.moscow.com/ngier/home/blue&redmixed.htm. There is no
“www” in this URL. <br>
Nick Gier, Moscow<br><br>
To the Editor:<br><br>
A recent book “The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro” by John Sperling puts
the lie to comments that people live in Blue States because of government
handouts there. Contrary to widespread belief, no more than six
percent of Americans were ever on Aid to Dependent Children, the main
federal program.<br><br>
Here are some of Sperling’s points:<br>
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<dl><font face="Symbol" size=2>
<dd>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">The
Red States have 35 percent of the population and 50 senators, while the
Blue States have 65 percent of the population and 50 senators.</font>
</dl><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Subsidized
industries (agriculture, oil, gas, etc.) dominate in the Red States and
nonsubsidized manufacturing, financial and information services dominate
in the Blue States.<br>
</font><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">The
Reds pay 29 percent of federal tax while the Blues pay 71 percent.<br>
</font><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">From
1991 to 2001 the Reds received $800 billion more in goods, services, and
cash from the feds than it paid in taxes, while the Blues paid the feds
$1.4 trillion.<br>
</font><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">The
Reds have produced 23 Nobel Laureates in science and economics, while the
Blues have given us 235.<br>
</font><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">In
2004 39 states gave Kerry 1.5 million more votes than Bush, while 11
states (the heart of the Confederacy) gave 5 million more votes to
Bush.<br>
</font><font face="Symbol" size=2>·<x-tab> </x-tab></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Check
this graphic that shows the 2004 vote adjusted for the size of Red and
Blue populations: users.moscow.com/ngier/home/red&blue.htm.
<br><br>
John Edwards was correct to speak about two Americas, one that feeds at
the federal trough and one that thanklessly fills the trough.<br><br>
Nick Gier, Moscow<br><br>
<br>
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