There is no argument that we use taxes gathered from most of us to pay for the things that each and every one of needs. We need public schools, public highways, public health care, public safety, and public transportation; these are group needs which are met with group contributions called taxes.

The problem I addressed in my original commentary (AC-T, June 24) is that the proposed NC budget, as a whole, is fiscally irresponsible. Or, phrased another way, on that one day to which I referred previously, all the Democrats in the House found the budget just fine, but all the Republicans in the House found it fiscally irresponsible. That day, they were not voting on the ears and the tail or even the squeal of the hog, they were voting on the whole hog. When a Legislator votes against a huge, pork-laden tax bill, it's not a vote against each individual item in the budget.

Which redundant programs would state Democrats be willing to end? Many suggestions for reining in spending have been made, by our elected officials in Raleigh and by those who observe them. The Democrat-controlled Legislature, however, has rebuffed almost every such attempt. In spite of Dr. Buie's concluding arguments on July 8, Legislators find it hard to cut redundant programs; it is far easier to raise taxes. The majority of the Legislature did not, in fact, do the right thing, it did the easy thing.

For those who ask “How can we reduce spending?”, the John Locke Foundation's “Freedom Budget 2005,” which can be found at http://www.johnlocke.org, click “Policy Reports,” identifies many ways to reduce spending. It also identifies ways we should raise spending, for it includes a much larger pay raise for state employees.

Mr. Haner, on July 18, made it sound as if I were opposed to public education. Nothing could be further from the truth. As an individual whose path to a successful and satisfying career was made possible by a good education, I think educating our youth is the most important line on the budget. May all North Carolinians do what it takes to have first-rate schools in North Carolina.

Trudi Walend, Republican House member from Transylvania, and other Republicans have continued to sponsor bills requiring zero-based budgeting. If each department had to justify each item on its budget every five years, as is proposed, it would be easier to identify spending reductions that would not destroy important programs. This session, Senate Bill 325 and House Bill 151 call for zero-based budgeting. All of the sponsors and co-sponsors except one are Republicans! Yes, one Democrat sponsored the Senate bill. If indeed Mr. Haner is correct in stating that the House Democrats are now demanding zero-based budgeting, then the Democrats have finally caved in to Republican pressure, and we should all rejoice.

Democrats crow about being the party that looks after the little person, the poor, and the weak, but their taxing actions don't match their words. Let us examine three particularly egregious examples of taxation in this budget bill which illustrate just the opposite – that Democrats are quite willing to add regressive taxes that bear directly on the poorest of our citizens: a sales tax increase which had been promised to end this year, continues; the tax on cigarettes increases dramatically; and a lottery begins.

A sales tax is one of the most regressive of taxes, hitting the poor much more heavily than the rich. Those who genuinely care about the poorest of our citizens should stand in the forefront for its decrease.

When you speak of 140 million dollars to be raised by raising the taxes on cigarettes, you are also speaking of 140 million dollars which will be extracted from people by taxation. Again, this tax takes dead aim at low income citizens. Those addicted to “coffin nails” will continue to smoke, and so they will ante up the dollars. Taxing cigarettes so as to have an additional 140 million dollars to spend on “slush fund” support for favorite charities of a few Legislators is not a good idea.

And a lottery. We lived in a lottery state for too many years. As a thrifty Republican, I bought gas at a small discount station which also sold lottery tickets. I observed that almost every one of the folks who purchased the tickets was an individual whom the Democrats claim to care about. A lottery is a huge, new regressive tax on our poorest citizens.

Where are the dollars that help you most? Those in your own pocket, or those in the pockets of spend-thrift Democrats in Raleigh?

Dr. George E. Keller, Chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party.