LETTERS: NOVEMBER ELECTIONS OFFER A CURE

To the editor:

A few months ago, the Senate held hearings on abuses by the IRS which the public has known about for decades, but the senators acted as though the abuses were a great surprise to them. One wonders how they know who to call to testify if this was going on unknown to them all this time.

Of course, the Senate vowed to correct these abuses, maybe by going so far as to abolish the IRS and eliminate the income tax in favor of a different, simpler tax. I advise no one to hold his breath until this happens. They have no intention of destroying the agency that milks the public for money that the lawmakers use to get themselves re-elected, money that furnishes them with a lifetime pension no matter how their actions are destroying our country and millions of lives.

Our Congress created the IRS, and it also wrote the tax code which the IRS uses to squeeze every penny it can from the taxpayers for the benefit of those who created their jobs for them. The tax code has been reformed probably 50 times over the years, but every reform results in a small cut here and a big increase somewhere else, which adds up to a net increase in taxes.

There is a surefire cure for this. There is an election this November, and the people have the power -- and hopefully the good sense -- to take our government back from these self-serving politicians.

RAY UMBDENSTOCK

Cape Girardeau