Prosperity

In about 30 seconds, thanks to sourcewatch.com, I found out that Americans for Prosperity, which is described as a "grass-roots, free market advocacy organization" by op-ed writer Dave Schwartz (Tea party, 1 year later," April 15), is nothing more than a corporate front group. Formerly called Citizens for a Sound Economy, AFP has a record of advocating for the tobacco industry to oppose cigarette taxes and indoor smoking bans and is largely funded by the Koch Family Foundations and Scaife Family Foundations.

I have a question for my Republican friends. Yes, that sounds like the setup for a smackdown, but though the question is pointed, it is also in earnest. I'd seriously like to know: If Republican fiscal policies really are the key to prosperity, if the GOP formula of low taxes and little regulation really does unleash economic growth, then why has the country fared better under Democratic presidents than Republican ones, and why are red states the poorest states in the country?

In keeping with your editorial regarding the nation's dysfunctional political system and how to impacts our place in the global economy ("Crisis made, averted," Sept. 28), I have a tidbit to add. Getting ready for a trip, I got out three blazers to pack. Because of your editorial it suddenly came to me to check the labels in these blazers. One label says it was made in Poland, one says Vietnam, and other Indonesia. Contributors all to our government's new economic problems, and, believe it or not, horrendous taking away of money that should go to our government in taxes.

The story is told that in 1787, fake villages were erected along the Dneiper River so that Czarina Catherine and her elite guests would not see the deplorable state in which the peasants of her country lived. Well dressed serfs waved happily from the shore as Catherine's barge floated past, only to be stripped of their clothing and returned to crushing poverty after their ruler had floated by. Whether true or myth, such false facades now bear the name of Catherine's favorite General who orchestrated the plot; "Potemkin Villages" have come to symbolize a cynical effort to hide the truth and present a picture of prosperity where none exists.

The Sun's editorial ("A costly breakthrough," March 13) appears right on when it stated: "We cannot escape the fear that senators are seeking to raise more money than is truly necessary to make their [tax] plan work. " One only needs to look at the headlines of The Sun three days later ("Senate votes for tax on rich," March 16) to realize how prophetic the editorial was. The comments of elected officials are focused more on defending taxing the more affluent than the need for the revenue.

I fully agree with letter writer Thomas Jandl ("Free trade does not kill jobs," Aug. 30) that fewer trade barriers mean more jobs. We are living in a worldwide economy and it is time that the people in the U.S. realize this as a great opportunity and not a threat. It is tough for Americans to switch from a consumer to a creator when you don't have an efficient education system and poorly educated professionals. Other countries offer free education including college and trade school.

Regarding a recent Sun op-ed page, it's rare to see two commentaries side by side that perfectly cancel each other out. In one, John Seager notes that the Earth's population is growing at a rate of 80 million people a year ("An Unhappy World Population Day," July 11). In the other, Thomas F. Schaller exhorts us to welcome immigrants even when their "economic pressure forces those of us already here to work harder" ("Hostility toward recent immigrants a long U.S. tradition," July 11). It might occur to Mr. Schaller that today jobs are a precious commodity, and it's only natural to want them protected.

One of the few things Americans on both sides of the partisan divide can agree on is that this election is shaping up to be vexingly petty. The hunt for gaffes -- some real, many imagined -- has taken over. Mitt Romney's recent overseas tour, we are told, produced three: an impolitic, if defensible, statement about Britain's preparations for the Olympics; a statement about the importance of culture in economic development; and an incident in which an aide to Mr. Romney dressed down a reporter with an inflated sense of entitlement.

It's the season to show concern for the less fortunate among us. We should also be concerned about the widening gap between the most fortunate and everyone else. Although it's still possible to win the lottery (your chance of winning $648 million in the recent Mega Millions sweepstakes was one in 259 million), the biggest lottery of all is what family we're born into. Our chances in life are now determined to an unprecedented degree by the wealth of our parents. That's not always been the case.

America is not yet an oligarchy, but that's where Charles and David Koch and a few other billionaires are taking us. American democracy used to depend on political parties that more or less represented most of us. Political scientists of the 1950s and 1960s marveled at American "pluralism," by which they meant the capacities of parties and other membership groups to reflect the preferences of the vast majority of citizens. Then around a quarter century ago, as income and wealth began concentrating at the top, the Republican and Democratic parties started to morph into mechanisms for extracting money, mostly from wealthy people.

America is not yet an oligarchy, but that's where Charles and David Koch and a few other billionaires are taking us. American democracy used to depend on political parties that more or less represented most of us. Political scientists of the 1950s and 1960s marveled at American "pluralism," by which they meant the capacities of parties and other membership groups to reflect the preferences of the vast majority of citizens. Then around a quarter century ago, as income and wealth began concentrating at the top, the Republican and Democratic parties started to morph into mechanisms for extracting money, mostly from wealthy people.

Do you recall a time in America when the income of a single schoolteacher or baker or salesman or mechanic was enough to buy a home, have two cars and raise a family? I remember. My father (who just celebrated his 100th birthday) earned enough for the rest of us to live comfortably. We weren't rich but never felt poor, and our standard of living rose steadily through the 1950s and 1960s. That used to be the norm. For three decades after World War II, America created the largest middle class the world had ever seen.

The launch of regular Saturday and Sunday commuter train service between Baltimore and Washington on the MARC rail line in December may be one of the best things that's happened to Charm City in decades. It will make it easier for Baltimore's harbor attractions, sports stadiums, museums and theaters to attract visitors from the Washington area and give Baltimore residents comparably easy access to weekend amenities there. Perhaps more importantly, it helps make Baltimore more appealing to Washington-area workers as a lower-cost alternative for city living and could spur a new influx of residents into the city again.

It's the season to show concern for the less fortunate among us. We should also be concerned about the widening gap between the most fortunate and everyone else. Although it's still possible to win the lottery (your chance of winning $648 million in the recent Mega Millions sweepstakes was one in 259 million), the biggest lottery of all is what family we're born into. Our chances in life are now determined to an unprecedented degree by the wealth of our parents. That's not always been the case.

In 1982, Mayor William Donald Schaefer persuaded state lawmakers to try a different approach to urban revitalization. To lure companies to poorer parts of Baltimore and elsewhere in Maryland, the government would dangle a 10-year property tax discount and hiring rebates. Baltimore's first so-called Enterprise Zone was carved from a depressed section of Lower Park Heights called Park Circle, where a sausage plant and other businesses opened their doors. Thirty years later, Baltimore has greatly expanded its program, offering multimillion-dollar tax breaks to developers in many of the city's most desirable neighborhoods.

I was filled with admiration after reading about Kevin Plank's dedication to staying in his home state of Maryland ("Under Armour founder Kevin Plank sees himself as the underdog," May 9). I have no doubt that he will achieve his goal of growing Under Armour into a Fortune 500 company. Minutes later, I read Constance Kihm's letter bidding farewell to Maryland because of the laws passed by our (democratically elected) leaders ("Farewell, my Maryland, farewell to taxes, farewell to extreme liberalism," May 10)

The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad operated for 80 years, beginning in 1884. The little railroad ran from Baltimore to York twice daily. Stops in Harford County included Forest Hill, Highland, Bel Air and Fallston. With the lack of good roads, the Ma and Pa, as it was called, allowed local businesses and farms to prosper through the barter and sale of their products. The Ma and Pa marked the beginning of a period of prosperity for Harford County. As roads and automobiles improved, the railroad industry suffered.

THE PASSAGE to democracy, like the passage to developed prosperity, can be rocky. The sudden rash of strikes in South Korea's lucrative export industries attests to that.These were political strikes against government legislation, not collective bargaining. But the law being protested was a change in labor relations rules, giving employers greater latitude in breaking strikes and firing workers.President Kim Young Sam's allies rammed the law through the National Assembly at an unannounced early morning meeting, before opposition deputies could muster.

Here we go again: City leaders want to invest more public dollars in the Inner Harbor ("Improving the city's 'playground,"' April 24). One would have thought had learned from the mistakes of the past. The Inner Harbor long has symbolized the wrong turn our city took in its economic development strategy. We have invested in high-profile projects that benefit a small segment of the population while neglecting ordinary residents and their neighborhoods. In 1970, before the Inner Harbor was redeveloped with enormous infusions of public money, 5.3 percent of Baltimore's housing units were vacant.

Times are good these days at the Linde Corp., where despite a sluggish economy nationally, the company is on a hiring binge. The construction company, based near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, has seen its workforce nearly triple over the past five years as it switched from helping to build big-box stores to laying miles of natural gas pipelines connecting hundreds of gas wells drilled in the rolling rural terrain here in Susquehanna County....