TAXATION IS CRUCIAL ISSUE IN THIS ELECTION

To the editor:

What this nation needs in our political system today are men and women who
stand for what they honestly believe, not the "do anything it takes to get
elected and stay in power" schemes of the Clinton years.

We were recently shown a mailer from Dolores Faison who is running for the
North Carolina House. Shades of the Clinton years. Faison is, according to
the flier, against higher taxes and for cutting government waste. The party
that paid for this mailing and the party she represents, however, is the
very party that raised taxes in 1999 and 2000. This same party supported a
$1.3 billion tax hike during a recession.

Faison has publicly stated that drug offenses should not go to prison but
should be treated at taxpayer expense in rehabilitation centers. In our
opinion, this is government waste.

According to the director of the program on Southern Politics, Media and
the Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill, and as reported in the Oct. 28 edition
of The Daily News, Faison is targeting black neighborhoods in her campaign.
We have had enough divide and conquer politics. The divisiveness of the
Clinton years that pitted young against old, poor against rich, those of
faith against those with none, and race against race needs to stop. Let us
be represented by politicians that see us not as hyphenated Americans but
as Americans - devoid of race, creed, ethnicity, or social class descriptors.

The most critical issue of this election is that of rampant taxation that
threatens the very principles upon which this nation was founded. The
American Revolution was fought over the British Stamp Tax, tea tax, etc.,
that amounted to about one-week's earnings of the average American
colonist. Today, we work an average of six months to pay government levied
taxes. We believe it's time to stop the era of government tax and spend.

Support for the party that paid for Faison's mailer is not the answer.

Let's take our country back before it's too late, and vote for candidates
such as Keith Williams that reflect conservative American beliefs and values.

Ron and Terry Matthews

Stella