Posted 5:17 PM by Floyd

The San Jose Mercury News letters to the editor page is a target-rich environment today:

WHY raise taxes? Why cut benefits? How about reviewing the tax benefits that are given to corporations operating within the state? Should not the corporations pay similarly to the citizens who live and work in this state?

I do not buy into the idea that corporations will flee the state if made to pay their respective due in the world's fifth-largest economy. Many companies have relocated, many have stayed and many are being born. This is true in any economic environment.

With all the economic harm done by corporations due to the accounting deception of Enron and the enormous compensation to corporate executives, can we not now let them pay their way? There is no need to raise taxes or cut benefits. Let those who make incredible wealth from the economy pay their due to the system that allows their great wealth.

Rich Medrano
Seaside

I am against corporate welfare, but I hope that if I inveighed against it, I would not commit such basic reasoning errors as denying the existence of specific numbers:

I do not buy into the idea that eating a pound of ice cream a day will cause one to gain weight. Many people are fat, many are are skinny, and many are gaining or losing weight. This is true given any level of caloric intake.

or generalizing from specific cases:

With all the harm done by football players who murdered their wives, can we not now let the NFL pay its own way?

                              

Let's not forget circular reasoning -- or, you can lead a commie to capitalistic jargon but you can't make him think:

WITH the state budget in deficit and given the relatively low price of gasoline, putting an extra tax on gasoline is a rational option. If it were raised a dime a gallon, the state would take in nearly $300 million, as California's use is close to 3 billion gallons annually. The tax could be raised gradually to European levels.

The information value of such a tax would be its greatest value, even if Sacramento could be expected to spend the money very wisely. Gasoline users would be informed through their wallets that consumption of gasoline is very expensive. Options would be explored and choices made that would result in less gasoline consumption, less pollution and less congestion on the roads.

Raymond R. White
Palo Alto

Raymond White dislikes the use of gasoline. So he will impose a punitive tax; this will allow consumers to figure out that gasoline is bad. I'm not sure why this is any more moral than, say, the information conveyed by the Spanish Inquisition, but give Raymond credit for knowing some free-market economic jargon.

By the way, Ray, "raise to European levels" sure is a fancy-pants way of spelling "triple".

                              

Earlier I complained that the Mercury News prints simpering letters from schoolchildren, usually teenagers but sometimes as young as nine years old. The Merc saw fit to publish letters from six-year-olds:

Make the world better

WE should all help make the world a better place in many ways.

Please don't walk on snowy plover eggs on the sandy beach. Don't hunt endangered species. If you find a nest on the sidewalk, bring it to a wildlife refuge because Natalie did that and it helped the baby birds.

Please don't hunt birds for sport because the birds will go away. Please let the birds have a good life.

Please don't pour oil in the ocean because it can kill the birds, the fish and the mammals. It could also kill plants.

Birds and squirrels make the world a better place. If there weren't any birds, there would be a bunch of bugs (because birds eat bugs), and it would be bad to have too many bugs in the world.

Lynn Carter's first-grade class

Bullis-Purissima School
Los Altos Hill

Why stop with the first grade? Why not transcribe the wit and wisdom of two-year-olds?

I wan apple yoos! I wan apple yoos!

Pretty ducky! Wack wack! Pretty ducky!

Eek! Too cold. Want go home. Mommy, go home.

Chelsea Smythe
Age 2
Saratoga

Also, I think it's about time someone stood up for equal time for other religions besides environmentalism. Here are letters from a hypothetical sixth-grade class exposed to different beliefs:

I want California to let Sun Microsystems move into Agnews. Agnews has lots of icky green stuff and I want Sun to get rid of it and make some pretty computers.

Be nice to oil tankers. Sometimes nasty rocks get in their way and spill all the oil. That's a bummer cause someone spent a lot of money on the oil. And the oil is useful. Down with rocks!

If you see a marsh, drain it. There could be mosquitos that would bite you and give you malaria. Then everyone would run away.

A final complaint: What's up with this "Lynn Carter's first-grade class"? It's been awhile since I was in an elementary school but I do believe people are allowed to have individual identities. The only point of publishing this drivel is to put some tyke's name in the paper and make him or her feel like he did something important. But not the faceless masses at Bullis-Purissima, who must have received a rude shock:

Lynn Carter: Class, our letter is going to be published in the paper. Hooray!

(Name redacted): Ms. Carter, will they print my name?

Lynn Carter: No, (name redacted), but mine will and you can bask in my reflected glory!