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Readers write: Bernie Sanders, tax reform, cursive writing

Letters to the editor for the May 9, 2016 weekly magazine.

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Cliff Owen/AP
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a news conference in Washington.
  • By Elizabeth Hinnant Monitor reader
  • Dr. Allan Hauer Monitor reader
  • Elizabeth Walling Monitor reader

Sanders’s criticism

I have been a Monitor reader for many years and enjoy its overall excellent news coverage, but I was disappointed in the April 8 online article “By stepping back from Clinton attacks, Sanders makes a statement” (CSMonitor.com). True, he stepped back, but he should never have stepped that far in the first place. That also makes a statement, although a less flattering one.

Elizabeth Hinnant

Sanford, N.C.

Tax reform needed – but how?

Regarding the April 11 cover story, “1040 reasons your taxes are so complicated”: The huge body of US tax law certainly needs to be completely reevaluated and simplified, but let’s not pretend that there is anything obvious about the directions this should take. My guess is that for a large number of Americans, “tax reform” is more centered on fairness and sensible balance. There needs to be a reasonable sharing of the burden of supporting a healthy, educated, stable society. We are currently quite far out of balance. The article brings up the old cliché “cut tax rates but broaden the base” – doing this while striving for a sensible balance is no small feat.

So let’s pursue tax reform with bipartisan vigor, but let’s not pretend that we are obviously slaying a well-defined dragon.

Dr. Allan Hauer

Corrales, N.M.

Writing is an art

For many years, Robert Klose has charmed us with his stories, including ones about raising his two boys and their adventures along the way. His March 7 essay, “In praise of cursive writing,” was no exception. Having taught younger children for 40 years, legible writing, whether printing or cursive, to me is a form of art. Thank you so much for all the informative articles in your magazine, and I look forward to Robert’s next essay.

Elizabeth Walling

Keyport, N.J.

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Mark Sappenfield
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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

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