To the Editor:

I was taken aback when I read Larry Britt’s letter to the editor on Saturday. Has Britt been involved in budget processes at this level? Every few weeks I see a letter from Britt in this paper as a member of a different organization, yet I can’t recall ever seeing his name on the ballot for public office. Somehow he feels the need to lecture the people of Beaufort County on the pending tax increase, which is  absolutely hilarious.

As a lifelong resident of Beaufort County and a veteran of the Vietnam War, I am quite certain that I have earned the right to speak on my opposition to our property taxes being raised. I am sure they do things different up there in Wake County, where Britt came from, but down here in eastern North Carolina things are a lot different. You would think Britt would have figured that out after all of the five or six years he has been down here. Like the occasional expert from up North who moves down here, Britt feels that he has all the answers for us simple country folks. Larry Britt, Beaufort County was here before you came and I am positive it will be here when you leave.

It seems Britt has decided to provide cover for the liberal elements of the Republican commissioners. As with most big government believers, he shows his true colors with his continuing letters to the editor. I, for one, am very proud to say that I vote for anyone who believes in less government and lower taxes, regardless of party affiliation. We the people vet our candidates and elect those whose values and positions best reflect ours.

As this reckless government spending continues at all levels, the 2010 elections spoke volumes of what we the people want and it is not more taxes and more government. The spin of harming education and law enforcement is the standard scare tactic of the true believers in big government. The reality to us common folk, not the Larry Britts of the world, is we must find ways to scale back government because the way things are going now are not sustainable.

Property taxes are a lot like Larry Britt’s letters – we’d all be better off with a lot less of them.

BILL SHAVENDER

Washington