Richland County Council is hotly debating whether to put a 1¢ sales tax to the voters of that unfortunate county. With at least six left- leaning politicians thereon, the odds of that measure not appearing on the ballot in November are zero.

A few members like Val Hutchinson have it figured out, however. Simply, it is the right plan at the wrong time. Moreover, one or two voices spoke in the public hearing wilderness before council on July 15 clearly enumerating the reasons why it is a bad idea. I will not list them here, but I will add another. The Democrats in Congress not only do not want to offer the financially- stressed American household a temporary reprieve on the federal fuel tax; they want to raise it.

If American voters want a preview of the next four years under a totally leftist government in DC, they have only to look at the pronouncements of Reid, Clyburn, and Pelosi. Tax plans by locally- elected officials together with ill- conceived federal tax increases will really do a number on middle income families. After all, they are where the money is in America. (Consider the income spectrum like a bell curve. The fat is in the middle.)

Because capital is mobile, the "rich" in America will move their money to places away from the IRS. We in Lexington County will have it bad enough, but I really feel for my neighbors across the Congaree. John A Huffman West Columbia, SC

Editor's note: the referendum calling for a 1¢ sales tax to fund the bus sys tem was defeated in a special session July 22, 2008, in a special called meeting of Richland County Council. Read about it on page 4.