5 days ago
Why should some workers get a tax break on tips?
Aside from the 1968 World Series, my adolescent highlight was unexpectedly meeting Mr. Dave Bing in Ann Arbor in the early 1970s, then a player for the Detroit Pistons, while he was sidelined by an eye injury. After reading about Mr. Allan Hughes ("He 'loved' Barry Sanders as a Lions staffer, and Jocko Hughes still loves Detroit today," Detroit Free Press, May 25), I can say that it would have been a pleasure to meet Mr. Hughes as well. Kudos to him for his humanity and dedication to serving others.
Victor Turner
Concord, North Carolina
Rather than sacrifice forests for solar farms, why don't utilities seek out roofs of large industrial facilities? (Editor's note: Last week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources halted a plan to install solar panels on state-managed forest lands.) The shade of the solar panels would reduce air conditioning loads while keeping the generation closer to the users to minimize transmission losses. It could be a win for both parties.
Dennis Green
Farmington Hills
Can anyone explain to me why some people who work in America deserve to not pay taxes on part of their earnings, while other workers who make the same amount must pay on all of them?
Perhaps President Donald Trump and those who are leaning towards voting for this economic package feel they have found a way to encourage those folks to vote for them. Yes, it is illegal for them to write them a check to buy their vote but isn't this the same thing, just done in a different way?
If we are going to offer this tax break to some workers, why are we not offering it to all that are in the same economic situation?
There must be a reason, but it escapes me what it is. Think about it, please.
Mitchell Radcliff
Ann Arbor
If we are going to tariff foreign goods at higher rates, why not try to lower our national debt, instead of trying to find ways to lower personal and business taxes? Why not force foreign countries to take back the tariff money the U.S. is charging their companies to bring foreign goods into our country? The U.S. would give back the tariff money by buying back U.S. Treasury bonds held by these foreign countries. That would finally start lowering our national debt, which is better than the U.S. Congress always raising our government's debt ceiling.
Thomas Lukshaitis
Sandusky, Michigan
I had a deep conversation recently with a friend about the true goodness of people who are widely considered 'good Christians.' It really made me think about preconceived notions concerning religion and religious people that many of us have, so I thought I'd share.
I am not very religious, but I have many close friends and relatives who have always been quite religious or found god later in their lives. This friend and I were discussing how it was that I could disagree with many of their beliefs, but I could still think of them as great people.
At first glance, they are 'good Christians' who seem to love their neighbors and are kind people.
The second glance is good too. It's easy to see that they really try to adhere to most of the teachings of Christ. They care for people, help people, pray for people, and are just good, upstanding members of society.
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It is the third glance that got me wondering. While thinking of the disagreements that I might have with my religious friends, I had an epiphany. The so-called Christian tenets that my friends and family follow that I don't believe in, are not, in my opinion, very Christian at all.
The most egregious example is that they use their religious beliefs to discriminate against those that are different, specifically those in the LGBTQ+ community. They interpret the Bible incorrectly to say that transgender people don't really exist, or that gay people are sinners, directly contradicting Jesus' teaching to love your neighbor as yourself.
Now, the people that my friend and I were thinking of in my circle are truly very sweet people. They would never overtly discriminate against someone in this community, but this was the realization that my friend and I came to: While they aren't discriminating blatantly, they are still in fact discriminating.
If you don't go to a gay wedding of a relative because it is not natural, you are spreading hate and unacceptance. If you tell your son that transgender people are an abomination and not just a different type of person, you are potentially propagating violence. If you scoff at someone who puts their preferred pronouns in an email, you are lending credence to the idea that they are weird and wrong.
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It is still tough for me to conclude, as my friend surmised, that maybe they are just bad people, but it did get me thinking. They may not be bad, but what they are doing is bad … and is there really a difference?
Alton Fisher
Redford
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tax on tips, national debt, solar farms, and good Christians | Letters
