Umberg Is Hailed for Anti-Tax Vote

Hooray for Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove)! He had the guts to vote against an increase in the sales tax even though the Republicrats (Gov. Pete Wilson and Speaker Willie Brown) pressured him to support the increase. Mr. Umberg rightly said that the sales tax hurts the poor and the working families, who are already suffering from the budget cuts and the recession.

Tom Umberg, being an economic liberal, understands that if an increase in taxes is needed, then taxing the income of individuals making over $100,000 (and couples making over $200,000) makes the most sense since they have the most discretionary income. Plus, a tax increase on the rich will simply bring back the state income tax rate to what it was just a few years ago and bring in an extra couple of billion dollars each year.

If working people and the poor have to lose services in a budget crunch, why can’t the wealthy take some heat as well?

If there were more liberal Democrats like Assemblyman Umberg, I am sure that more working people would vote and have more hope for our nation’s future.

Sell-out Democrats such as Willie Brown hurt the cause of the Democrats far more than they help. If they like sales tax increases, let Willie Brown and the sell-outs join the Republican Party of George Bush, Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan.

MITCHELL J. FREEDMAN, El Toro