Takes on Trump: Are Rice claims just a distraction? – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Trumps fans buying anything hes selling

Regarding Paper should focus on the Rice controversy (April 5): President Trump was desperate to divert attention from charges that Russia helped his campaign. Enter shiny object No. 1. He makes up a story that Barack Obama personally wiretapped him. But that doesnt work out very well, since there is no evidence for it.

Lets try shiny object No. 2. He leaks secret information to Devin Nunes, who parrots it back to him and the media See, he was being wiretapped, but inadvertently.

This doesnt fly either, so on to shiny object No. 3. Drag out Susan Rice to beat up. Fox runs a story without any evidence that she unmasked his team. You may well ask why they were on the other end of the phone with Russian agents.

Cue the Trump lemmings who write in to this paper complaining that they didnt sufficiently cover this latest attempt to divert attention.

Phil Heinz

Rancho Bernardo

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Is ISIS going mainstream? It said the U.S. is being run by an idiot.

Now that it is ideologically aligned with the mainstream media and Democrats, shouldnt the United Nations offer it a seat? It would fit right in.

Frank Felber

San Diego

In response to Will Donald Trump flub tax reform, too? (April 2): I take exception to your editorials claim that its mind-boggling and crazy that a disproportionate amount of tax relief may end up going to the richest Americans.

This assertion flies in the face of the latest IRS statistics from 2013, which show that the average taxpayer paid a 13.6 percent income tax rate. The breakdown among taxpayer percentiles: the bottom half paid a 3 percent rate, the top half paid 15 percent, and the top 1 percent paid a whopping 27 percent.

Your editorial ignores the context that taxes on the affluent already increased significantly during the Obama years, which arent yet reflected in these statistics.

You also criticize the proposed abolition of the estate tax, which isnt reflected in these numbers either since its an immoral one-time tax on a decedents wealth.

This simply propagates the demagogic narrative that the wealthy need to pay their fair share regardless of the actual numbers.

Whats really mind-boggling is the notion that if youre not in favor of tax hikes on the rich into perpetuity, youre somehow against the middle class.

Zachary M. Goldman

San Diego

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Takes on Trump: Are Rice claims just a distraction? - The San Diego Union-Tribune