Greedy Geezers?
East Hampton
April 16, 1998

Dear Editor,

This being tax time, we're all hearing again from our TV sets about how we older Americans are ripping off the system - not paying our way and selfishly resisting reductions in our benefits while young folks subsidize us.

Okay, so let's take the case of Mary, a retired hairdresser in her 70s who decided to go back into business because the $10,000 she was getting annually in Social Security benefits wasn't seeing her through. The first year she made $20,000 and the next year she upped it to $21,000.

How much Federal tax do you think Mary paid on that extra $1,000 she earned? The answer is $582. That's right. Fifty-eight percent to go from 20,000 to 21,000 - 281/2-percent Federal income tax, 15.3-percent self-employment tax, and another 141/4 percent on her Social Security income that she'd already paid in taxes during her younger years.

Check it out while your 1997 1040 forms and instructions are still around. Pages 42, A15, and SE1.

If you want to throw in the 6-percent New York State income tax, this greedy geezer who's ripping off the system is paying $642 in taxes on that $1,000 that brought her earned income to the still-low level of $21,000.

Now guess how much tax Bill Gates is paying on the $1,000 he will make to raise his holdings from $50,000,000,000 to $50,000,001,000? The answer, according to the tax table on page 51, is $382, $200 less than Mary. And with the kind of tax advice you can buy at Gates's level, maybe he's paying a lot less.

How about putting that on the tube, Peter, Bill, Charlie, and you other media folk with homes on the East End? After all, according to income reports in business magazines, it takes Peter a whole hour to add that $1,000 (that our greedy senior ripping-off-the-system hairdresser took a year to rake in) and it only takes Bill 1.57 seconds.

Sincerely,

RICHARD ROSENTHAL

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For Openers
Montauk
April 6, 1998

To The Editor:

It's in the newspaper, so we must assume it is true.

A recent full-page ad showing larger and larger and larger jet aircraft overhead, fighting for landing rights, leads to one conclusion for our local airport: We must expand the new terminal building to accommodate the influx of jet day-trippers who have been patiently waiting for the main runway to be restored to its full width.

How's that for openers!

Respectfully,

DONALD T. FOLEY

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A Few Comments
Bridgehampton
March 28, 1998

Dear Editor,

I read with interest the front-page article "Return of the Rough Riders" since I have recently published the book "Birth of the American Century, Centennial History of the Spanish American War" (see enclosed brochure and review quotes).

People who know my work (especially my six Long Island Rail Road books) are surprised that, after 15 railroad books, I have gone off in a radically different direction! I have a few comments concerning Russell Drumm's story.

He failed to mention the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments, two Negro units that also fought with valor and distinction at San Juan Hill; members of the four black regiments winning six of the 109 Congressional Medals of Honor to be awarded in 1898 - more than the two World Wars and Korea combined!

Roosevelt, as a young man, hardly made "visits to the Dakotas"; he owned a ranch in the Badlands and worked it for two years. Saying that T.R. "actually met Buffalo Bill" is strange, for he was already well-known from his term in the New York Legislature and his reformist government work. There was no reason that they should not have met and they were well-acquainted.

The county's term of "reunion and re-enactment" is a very odd title: How does the county plan a "reunion" of the Fifth Army Corps, the last veteran of which died a decade ago? The descendants of the 26,000 troops at Camp Wikoff will be having a gathering, an assembly, or a conference - hardly a "reunion"!

The biggest mistake of Mr. Drumm's article was: ". . . April 24, 1898, when Spain declared war on the United States. . . ." It was the U.S. that declared war! Almost as incredible is this: ". . . Roosevelt . . . was named the regiment's chief. . . ."

Lieut. Col. Roosevelt was the executive officer - second in command, while Col. Leonard Wood was the commander. It was on June 30, the day before the Battle of San Juan Hill, that Wood was promoted to brigadier general and Roosevelt made colonel and got the regiment - just in time for his day of glory.

Another serious error: Colonel Wikoff was hardly the "first officer killed in the Cuban campaign." The first was a marine surgeon from New York, at Guantanamo, on June 11, and Capt. Allyn Capron, commander of Troop L of the Rough Riders, was killed in action at Las Guasimas on June 24. Other officers may have been killed before Wikoff, on July 1.

". . . what was seen as oppression" is the understatement of all time for your newspaper, similar to saying that Hitler "did not seem to like Jews very much." By far the worst, cruelest, and bloodiest genocide in all of human history was committed by the Spanish conquistadores and the civil authorities (including the Spanish Catholic Church) that followed. It is all documented in "Birth of the American Century," especially regarding Cuba.

So, my new book is creating more controversy than all of my previous railway books combined! If you are interested in doing a review of the book, or interviewing me, just call. I will also be at the Steinberg Award authors' gala at the Benson Gallery. I also have many photos and artwork from 1898.

My main concern is that, even as we begin to realize that the Spanish American War was the second most important conflict in American history, the First Volunteer Cavalry is receiving far too much attention.

For a regiment that was in a combat zone for a month, saw fighting for just four days, and was in existence for only 133 days, the legend of the Rough Riders is blown out of all proportion. We must not forget that they comprised just 3 percent of the total Fifth Army Corps that was recuperating in Montauk.

Finally, Long Island is covered more in my book than any other part of the U.S., since it played such an important role - Army and Navy - in the war in 1898. I even used photos of warships in Peconic Bay and half of one chapter is devoted to Camp Wikoff.

Remember the Maine,

RON ZIEL
Author, Co-publisher

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Inaccurate Information
Southampton
April 6, 1998

Dear Helen:

I am writing to you in reference to the photograph displayed in your paper last week showing representatives from the Southampton Full Gospel Church protesting at the Hampton Gynecology and Obstetrics offices in Southampton.

The poster shown in the photograph stated inaccurate information. I have written to Rev. Donald Havrilla to advise him of this error.

For your information, the total fetal death number in the Village of Southampton, which includes both induced and spontaneous terminations for the months of January and February 1998, was 23, not 23 abortions as the poster suggests.

These numbers were recently released to the Full Gospel Church, following a Freedom of Information Act request for total fetal death statistics for January and February 1998. This request corrected past F.O.I.A. requests from the church, which were originally requesting abortion statistics performed in Southampton Hospital.

Hopefully, Reverend Havrilla will recognize his error and correct this poster and any other informational material that his church wishes to display to the public.

Please call me if you have any questions on this matter.

Sincerely,

JAMES A. VAN NOSTRAND
Southampton Village Administrator