Opposed to sales tax increase

I've been thinking. We have an election coming up on Aug. 5, and we are going to be voting on several taxes. I don't know about you, but I have been struggling in this economy. I lost my job a couple years ago and cannot seem to find another one, but I still have to pay my bills. I want to work, but I'm having no luck.

I've noticed that food prices have really been going up. Milk is now almost $5 a gallon. Large eggs are $2 a dozen. A loaf of Wonder bread is $2. Five pounds of sugar is $3.07, and five pounds of white flour is $3.69. And gasoline has doubled in price since January 20, 2009.

I have been trying to make ends meet, but all I'm doing is losing ground. Now our government wants to raise taxes again. Proposition K and Amendment 7 are both sales tax increases. Prop K is supposed to "strengthen families." How does throwing more money at a problem strengthen families? Amendment 7 is for transportation and is in addition to our gasoline taxes. I heard a presentation by a MoDOT official, and he admitted that Amendment 7 would raise more money than was actually needed to fix our roads and bridges in Missouri. If they don't need the money, they should not be able to tax me to get it. They'll probably just waste it.

I'm going to vote "no" on Proposition K and Amendment 7. How about you?

ANTHONY PAGE, Jackson