Income tax tally

The Jan. 20 editorial “Tax bite” was interesting.

State Sen. Bob Rucho and other Republicans are demonized for attempting to spur economic growth and reduce unemployment. The editorial determined that they presented a supposedly unworkable solution as well as shifting the burden of paying taxes from the rich to the poor.

There are currently seven states with no income tax, and they all, except for Nevada, have a better employment rate than North Carolina. Alaska, Florida, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming are all doing well and adding to their economy and population. What do you suggest for finding jobs for the 439,000 unemployed people of North Carolina?

Not once did the editorial suggest a different way for North Carolina to overcome the current 9.2 percent unemployment rate. The national average is 7.8 percent. Only Nevada, Rhode Island, California and New Jersey have higher unemployment rates than North Carolina. Except for Nevada, they are known as high income tax states.

Tom Hauck

Pittsboro