Gotham Is Best for a Freedom-Devoted U.N.

New York would be the best place to host a world body that champions freedom [“Shake-Up at Turtle Bay,” Editorial, December 24, 2004].

It is here that those who seek refuge from religious and ethnic persecution come to savor democracy. It is here that all faiths practice their own religions within the same neighborhoods, the same streets, the same blocks, without violence, without fear.

New York is proof that a United Nations can exist if people are allowed to be free and are not instigated by those who desire to foment violence in order to cling to power. A U.N. devoted to liberty deserves to have its headquarters here, in the capital of freedom.

SHLOMO FRIEDMAN
Brooklyn

Favoring Tax Code Transparency

The New York Sun’s editorial, “A Fair Tax?” [December 29, 2004] states, “for such a tax to generate the same amount of revenue as the current system does, the rate would have to be a hefty 30%.”

You are, in fact, calculating the rate as an exclusive percentage, that is, as a fraction of the cost. To compare the FairTax rate equivalently with the current income-tax rate[s], one must do so inclusively, that is, such that the price and the tax are considered as the total amount. In this way, the FairTax rate is actually 23%.

Abolishing all federal income taxes, including corporate income, is central to the FairTax proposal. When corporations no longer have to pay income taxes or match benefit contributions, our market system will ensure that prices drop accordingly. We, as consumers, will see only negligible changes in overall prices when the FairTax consumption rate is added on to reduced prices. Point being, we are already paying those taxes – businesses do not pay taxes; only individuals pay taxes. They may write checks to the IRS and other agencies, but these funds are embedded within the production costs.

Finally, you state, “…the problem was that while consulting all the economists, he [Brian Mulroney] forgot to check with any psychologists, who could have explained that people don’t like seeing taxes.” I don’t mind seeing taxes. I just don’t like paying them. Yet, given the choice, I would choose a transparent tax-revenue system, where everyone knows what we’re paying.

By utilizing purchases instead of income, compliance becomes simple and universal. All of the scofflaws, outlaws, tourists, illegal aliens, and citizens, both rich and poor, will be in compliance whenever they spend a buck. Law-abiding citizens should not mind seeing the taxes included on the bottom of our receipts, because it will do at least two things: (1) remind us what it actually costs us to be Americans; and, (2) comfort us to know that everyone else will be affected equally and without divulging more personal information.

JOSEPH A. KUNICKI
Associate professor of mathematics
University of Findlay
Arcadia, Ohio

Non-Phonetic Teaching Impairs

In response to “Schools and Juvenile Detention” by Sarina Roffe [Letters, December 23, 2004]: The arguments in support of youths getting a General Equivalency Diploma make sense for many students, but Ms. Roffe rightly points out that more than half of the children in detention have “some kind of learning disability.” For that substantial population, the greater good is to teach them to read accurately.

In concert with involved Suffolk County professionals, The Literacy Council has begun a reading project for youths on probation or community service that not only arranges for multisensory reading tutoring, but also pre- and post-tests, for diagnostic and progress monitoring purposes. The pre-testing includes an assessment, which reveals whether a person was introduced to reading by phonics or by whole-word-whole language teaching, as the latter emplaces a disability that the assessment quantifies. We find angry, frustrated teens with reading levels from zero to 5th grade, many receiving no help but ours.

Scientific foundations for our work date back to the 1980s when Michael Brunner studied educational factors affecting incarcerated juveniles for the U.S. Department of Justice. His book “Retarding America – The Imprisonment of Potential,” found that:

— Teaching incarcerated juveniles to read via multi-sensory phonic methods reduced recidivism significantly;

– Sociological background studies on persons committing violent acts showed the strongest statistical connection to be failure to learn to read, a link which, in the light of Pavlov’s research on behaviors under sustained frustration, Mr. Brunner believes to be causal;

— College professors of reading hold beliefs contrary to the weight of research, leading to inappropriately trained teachers and instruction.

The damage from whole-word teaching appears twice as severe among Afro-American children as among Caucasians. (We don’t know why, but the data are very consistent and accounts for the disproportions in special-ed classes.) Mr. Brunner has devised a remedy, available on our Web site: www.tlc.li

CHARLES M. RICHARDSON
Founder and chairman
The Literacy Council
Setauket, N.Y.

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