Letters to the Editor

Viewpoints

The Democrat welcomes letters to the editor on a variety of topics. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, grammar and taste. Letters should be concise and to the point. They must be signed and include the author’s address and phone number for verification. We will accept only original letters – no form letters. Letters that do not conform to this policy will not be published. Submissions may be dropped-off at or mailed to the Democrat’s office, 512 Palo Pinto St., Weatherford, TX 76086, faxed to 817-594-9734 or sent electronically to editor@weatherforddemocrat.com.

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January 30, 2013

Letters to the Editor - Jan. 30, 2013

Anonymous Weatherford Democrat The Weatherford Democrat Wed Jan 30, 2013, 04:02 AM CST

Vouchers will require new Texas-style taxes

Dear Editor,

When my U.S. Rep. Kay Granger came to Weatherford for a town hall meeting, I attended. After lecturing us for about 30 minutes on proposed federal spending for Obamacare, she opened the floor for questions. When I got to the microphone, I asked Rep. Granger if she planned to continue earmarking tens of millions of federal dollars for her Trinity River project over in Tarrant County.

My reasoning was simple in that her time would be better utilized restricting federal spending where she could rather than just griping about it where she couldn’t. Her response was that she had no intention of halting the flow of federal dollars into her Trinity River boondoggle (my words).

What we have here is a perfect example of how conservatives talk about controlling spending and downsizing government but behave in a totally contradictory manner.

Magicians and conservatives have a lot in common. The key to understanding them is to watch the left hand when they are waving the right.

A conservative hot button in Texas involves the creation of vouchers to be given to students attending private schools. One has to be completely divorced from reality to believe that the state can give thousands of dollars per semester to hundreds of thousands of students currently enrolled in private schools without one or more revenue sources.

There are two likely options for funding if our conservative legislature begins issuing school vouchers. First is a downgrade of public education by theft of its funding. The second option is new taxes (or new Texas-style taxes disguised as fees). Our hypocritical conservative legislators will try both unless we the taxpayers object loudly.

Larry Mason, Azle

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