Editor
The Oregonian
Three letters in a row on the fourth of July celebrated the efficiency, generosity, and civic-mindedness of the rich (Let wealthy keep their money, Deduction cap was to be temporary, and Hemstreet for better government). Long discredited trickle-down theory and distorted political history were cited as reasons for giving tax breaks - and the benefit of the doubt - to rich people.
In order to support these views, additional patriotic essays are needed. We need letters celebrating the civic virtues of gullibility, and political ignorance. In particular we need a piece explaining how and why we should ignore the recent data showing that during the prosperity of the 1990's "the average income for the wealthiest fifth of families rose 38 percent, but it declined by 14 percent in the poorest fifth" Oregonian, 1/18/00.
Were it not for Mark Hemstreet's generous $400,000 contribution to lobby for legislative tax-cutting in 1994, the Oregon Health Plan might well have been financially able to include the double transplant operation for Brandy Stroeder, as well as other excluded care for Oregon patients.