To the Editor:

Thank you Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, for raising my taxes. As with the majority of North Carolina citizens who earn less than $84,000 a year, my total state tax bill went up. Most of the promised tax cuts went to the higher income taxpayers and large corporations. So much income was lost by these cuts that the state budget is now in the red. You have to admire Sen. Davis faith in “trickledown economics” even though that economic philosophy has never been proven to work.

Thank you Sen. Davis for supporting the redistribution of wealth. He supports legislation that redistributes sale tax revenue to “poorer” counties. That could mean the loss of about $1.5 million for Macon County and a loss of $44,000 for the town of Franklin. This is money you and I would have to make up with our local tax dollars. Could it be that most of those “poorer” rural counties vote mostly Republican, and most of those “rich” counties vote mostly Democratic?

Thank you Sen. Davis for making sure the uninsured in Macon County stay uninsured. By voting to prevent Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, he has guaranteed that at least 1,500 Macon County citizens will stay without health insurance. Every time one of these uninsured goes to the emergency room and can’t pay the bill, the hospital charges us more to make up the difference. So you and I pay a higher health premium, and since we already paid for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina with our federal tax dollars, we lose twice.

Now I know what a “fiscal conservative” is.

Louise Vitale • Franklin