Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The: THE MORNING MAIL

IRAQ

U.S. should let nations fend for themselves

The president's latest request for money to carry on the Iraq mission brings us to a total of $300 billion ("Bush asks Congress for $81.9 billion more," Feb. 15). I'm certainly no mathematic genius, but I can divide that by the almost 300 million Americans to realize what each of us is paying for this "war on terrorism."

To me, it would have been a lot simpler to stay at home, close our borders tight and tell the rest of the world's countries to cook their own eggs. Any nations that want the freedom we espouse can get it on their own!

Having to deal with other countries that are not "free" in our own eyes will be the situation around the world for a good deal longer than most could imagine; it has to do with differences in philosophies, economics and, believe it or not, religious views.

Unless someone wants to build and maintain a large standing army like the Germans prior to World War II or the North Koreans and the Chinese today we cannot expect to police the entire world and enforce the policies we seem to talk about.

Freedom can never be given; it has to be earned and fought for to be appreciated.

Leander Frank Knight

New Berlin

BEATING

It's wrong to condemn every police officer

The Feb. 20 Sunday Symposium, "Beating, alderman's slur make for ugly mix," definitely made for interesting reading. As a 20-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department, I share the opinions of the authors of those letters in terms of the brutality against Frank Jude Jr., the hateful slurs and prejudices by Ald. Michael McGee and the need to remember that police officers are guaranteed the rights of due process and the Fifth Amendment.

However, a common denominator in the letters stood out that I feel needs correction. Regardless of whether this incident was perpetrated by off-duty or on-duty officers, four specifically named officers are accused in this incident. To insinuate that every police officer is guilty for the sins of these four is truly offensive and damages the reputations of the remaining 1,900-plus officers who were not present and who, day in and day out, perform above and beyond the call of duty without incident.

Bodo Gajevic

Milwaukee

MINIMUM WAGE

Sure, we'll see increase in jobs leaving U.S.

Give it up. We will never see the minimum wage increase go up in the state

Legislature; business leaders do not want to dig into their pockets ("Rush on higher wage urged," Feb. 22). What is to stop more of our industrial leaders from pulling out the rug and leaving the country to find people who will work for pennies on the dollar?

If you don't have the skills and you don't know of any way to get them, don't be looking for a pay raise; look for that minimum wage to be history.

Donald Wuerl

Milwaukee

SOCIAL SECURITY

We can do better than fixing' program

Charles Krauthammer, in his Feb. 18 column, called Social Security's trust fund "fictional," pointing out that the system is really pay-as-you-go ("Mention of 2042 spelled disaster"). He is correct, but he did not tell the whole story.

For decades, workers have paid Social Security taxes in amounts exceeding what was needed to pay current benefits. The excess was used by the government to meet other expenditures, thus reducing the income tax burden on all taxpayers, including those with high incomes, the group the Bush administration is now relieving of as much as possible its share of income taxes. Now that the time is approaching when the Social Security tax does not provide some "extra cash," the administration feels compelled to "fix" Social Security.

In the interest of some kind of tax justice, rather than "fixing" Social Security, let's simply repeal the Social Security tax, admit that the system is pay-as-you-go and let the benefits be paid from general tax revenue as are all other costs of government. Congress can wrangle, as it does so well, over how the total tax burden will be distributed among low-, middle- and high-income taxpayers. In the meantime, low- and middle-income workers will get a 6.2% increase in spendable income because they will not be paying the Social Security tax.

Gil Krueger

Brookfield

Private accounts a boon only to brokers

Private Social Security accounts would do nothing to solve future shortfalls, so why is President Bush adamant that they be added to the system?

Using part of the payroll tax to create private accounts would drain funds from the system, require up to $2 trillion for the transition and would leave the young, who choose these accounts, playing Russian roulette. Young people who choose private accounts would receive a reduced benefit from the traditional system. If the stock market falls when they retire, they would be hit with a double whammy.

Private accounts are available as individual retirement accounts or in any other savings plan. For 2005, individuals can contribute up to $4,000 in an IRA. Under Bush's private accounts plan, the contribution limit indicated is $1,000 per year. It appears the only reason Bush is pushing private accounts is to make the rich richer on Wall Street.

The shift in demographics, and the fact that people are living longer, will cause system shortfalls in the long run that have to be addressed, but there is no immediate crisis. The Social Security payroll tax is highly regressive. A good start toward eliminating future shortfalls would be the elimination of the cap on this tax along with other adjustments that will make the system viable over the long run.

James M. Smight

De Pere

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