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Childcare taxes, Boeing, drug costs and Trump

Posted on by Vaseline

Letters to the editor
| Springfield News-Leader

Exempting childcare from taxes is a bad idea

On August 6, in addition to voting in party primaries, Missouri voters will be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment to exempt all non-residential child care facilities from property taxes. While we all want affordable child care, this proposal is a terrible idea. Any small benefit to families with young children will be more than offset by higher property taxes for everyone else.

Many child care businesses are for-profit businesses. Nonprofit child care facilities, such as those in churches, are already tax exempt. I see no reason why for-profit child care businesses deserve a tax exemption but for-profit auto repair shops don’t. Yes, child care is important. And a functioning car to get to work safely is important too. The argument that something should be tax exempt because it would, as the ballot measures state, “support the well-being of children, families…and society” is essentially meaningless. Almost anything could be tax exempt by that logic.

Furthermore, this proposal does nothing to reduce government spending. Any reduction in the property tax base will result in higher property taxes for other entities that do not have a special exemption, such as your home, your farm, and other businesses. The overall effect may be small, but it will be real.

The property tax base should be set as broadly as possible so that tax rates can be as low as possible for all taxpayers. Shrinking that tax base is harmful, no matter how likable the cause. Missouri voters should keep that in mind as they cast their ballots in August.

David Stokes, Director of Municipal Policy, Show-Me Institute

Recent problems shouldn’t define Boeing

TV personality Judge Jeanine Pirro echoes the social media chant “If it’s Boeing, I ain’t go.” What a shame. To be fair, my first job out of Rolla was as an associate engineer working on the “737” during its flight certification phase. That was 1967, a long time ago. The Boeing 737 is the most successful and safest commercial airliner ever built. Perhaps the judge should take a look at Boeing’s history. The company rolled out the B-17, B-29, B-47, B-52, 707, 727, 747 before the 737. These were historically significant airplanes. Back then, maintenance personnel for manufacturers and airlines, as well as their unions, took pride in their work. Today, we see the effects of the DEI and ESG crazes in most industries, including aircraft manufacturing and aviation maintenance. Pride in the quality of one’s work has been displaced and failure is the result. But cultural fads are short-lived, and the American belief in the virtues of hard work will return. Count on it.

Martin Capages Jr., Springfield

Bailey doesn’t think law applies to Trump

I wonder why Andrew Bailey is concerned about his presidential candidate’s lawsuits? That’s what the justice system is all about, it prosecutes people who allegedly break laws, and if they are found innocent, they are acquitted.

Let me be brief: In AG Bailey’s embellished patriotic-sounding article in the Sunday (July 7) News-Leader, he alleged that other states are attempting to undermine the system that has served us well. He alleged that these states are using baseless criminal prosecutions and injunctions in a deliberate attempt to prevent his candidate from being elected. He alleged that Missourians have been denied access to his presidential nomination. He falsely alleged that prosecutors in these other states colluded with the Biden administration to facilitate a wrongful conviction to get ex-President Trump off the campaign trail, and that the facts show a level of collusion never before seen. He brazenly and falsely accused the Justice Department and state prosecutors of collusion. Bailey’s accusatory article must not go unchallenged.

First, allegations are not facts, and how could he possibly have any insight into the intentions of another prosecutor without a direct conversation? The dangerous and significant flaw in AG Bailey’s article is that it is all conjecture, he has provided no evidence.

He calls it protecting the “rule of law.” The definition of “rule of law” is a principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are: publicly promulgated; equally enforced (fair); independently adjudicated; and consistent with international human rights principles. Laws also protect the rights of a suspect.

Andrew Bailey calls due process in the justice system “lawfare” because it concerns his candidate. This is the same familiar unsubstantiated opinion you have heard over and over again from Fox commentators and AG Bailey’s candidate.

Norma Salchow, Springfield

Report sheds light on healthcare intermediaries, practices that harm patients

Consumers should be concerned about a recently released interim report from the Federal Trade Commission that accuses the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) of wielding enormous power over patient access and payment for medications. These managers serve as powerful middlemen in our health care system.

The report, released July 9, found that the six largest PBMs control 95% of the prescriptions filled in the United States each year. The report details how PBMs are driving up the costs of many life-saving medications, including cancer drugs, and are pushing independent pharmacies out of business, making it harder for some residents of rural and underserved communities to get medications locally.

The commission voted unanimously in 2022 to launch a bipartisan investigation into PBM practices after receiving a flood of concerns from doctors, patients and pharmacists.

The report finds that PBMs have significant power over patients’ ability to access and pay for their prescription medications, allowing them to exert significant influence over which drugs are available and at what price. This could have serious consequences, as nearly 30% of Americans surveyed said they rationed their prescription medications or even skipped doses due to high costs.

Patients should feel comforted that the FTC will continue to investigate how PBMs are manipulating the system and take action to ensure that patients and consumers have affordable access to the medications they need where they live.

Connie Farrow, Executive Director of Patients Come First-Missouri