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 The Chronicle welcomes you online! Please feel free to respond to these editorials or letters to the editor by sending your letters to the editor.

We condense letters; most, as published, won't exceed 300 words. A letter must include the writer's name and city, which will be published, and an address and telephone number for verification, which will not be published. Writers may be limited to one letter every 30 days. Open letters, letters to third parties and poetry are not considered. Letters from people living outside the Chronicle's circulation area usually are not considered.

Where's Gore refund?

Web posted July 17, 2000

 Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums.

Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff

Al Gore has been demonizing big business in his bid for the White House. The vice-president is especially hard on oil companies, which he says (without evidence to support it) have conspired to raise gas prices, and pharmaceutical firms for overpricing prescription drugs.

Such populist demagoguery appeals to voters who don't understand the marketplace and think the government, in the interests of ``fairness,'' should take stronger control of the economy.

Informed voters, however, understand that whatever inequities our (mostly) free enterprise system produces, a government cure is usually worse than the disease. Indeed, big government abuses are much more damaging to Americans' pocketbooks than big business abuses could ever be.

Let's assume, for argument's sake, Gore's charges are true: Big business is ripping off Americans by hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Well, this year the federal government surplus will be about $220 billion. What that means in real economic terms is that taxpayers are being overcharged $220 billion.

Thus, even if big business is ripping off consumers hundreds of millions annually, big government is ripping off taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions annually.

So if Gore is serious about helping Americans' pocketbooks, instead of attacking business, he'd be talking about refunding taxpayers.