Vote “YES” on initiative 1098! Taxes are the cost of a civil society. Now before Jeff Schnelz (“Say no to Initiative 1098,” Sept. 22) has a chance to say, “Oh, there goes another bleeding heart,” I’d like to tell him what my heart bleeds for.

It bleeds for the young factory worker who has to support a family of four on unemployment that is about to run out. It bleeds for the parent whose little child needs medical care but doesn’t have any insurance to cover it. It bleeds for the college high school senior who is capable and deserving of a college education but can’t afford it. It bleeds for the immigrant who comes here to better his or her life and can’t speak the language. Those are just for starters but those are the types of programs that get cut when our state faces budget crunches.

If we don’t pass 1098, our choice becomes, as in the past, to continue taxing those whom can least afford it, i.e., another hike in the sales tax. The only other alternative is to cut services even more. We measure our society by the way the least among us is treated. I’ll vote yes on 1098, and if it raises my taxes, so be it. I consider it the price tag to hold my head high and be proud of the society in which I live.

— Sarah Church