The letter is in reference to Bill O’Reilly’s March 23rd column, “Progressive caucus offers budget Stalin would love.” One would wonder how a man who has a nine-digit income could not have the heart to extend a modicum of generosity to those who pursue what Mr. O’Reilly perceives as a socialistic takeover of our government and our freedoms to pursue wealth as a criminal offense.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is perhaps going a bit overboard in his socialistic point of view about taxation, but that is the way he thinks, and Americans in Congress and the Senate can deal with it.
I have just finished reading a 600-page book by Mary Gabriel on the life of Karl Marx and his relationship with his wife, daughters and close friend and confidant, Frederick Engels. Marx may have been off base on capitalism, but keep in mind, his social programs were developed in the 1800s when men, women and children as young as 12 years old were working 12 hours a day in coal mines and factories. At that time, there were people who did not have wages enough to even buy enough food to keep them from starvation. Starvation was a daily concern which did take place often.
Mr. O’Reilly mentions his eighth grade education in 1963 and all the kids who were proficient in their academic studies. Not too many years earlier, I worked for a socialistic organization helping young men get the equivalent of a high school education. It was a daunting job, but I think that all the available free educational textbooks and aids supplied to me did some good. By the way, the name of the socialistic organization I was working for was the United States 25th Infantry Division.
So my message to Mr. O’Reilly is: Spend a few bucks, even if some of it falls into the hands of the "undeserving poor."
Marvin Cohen
Hamden