We need the distraction of sports sometimes

A 1974 New York Times column called sports the “opiate of the masses.” Well, if sports is a drug, I say let’s prescribe more of it.

Sports provides much-needed respite care in the face of Hurricane Helene’s death and destruction, never-ending violence in the Middle East, and our nation’s vitriolic political divisions. The Ravens crush the Buffalo Bills, the Orioles are in the playoffs, and The Baltimore Sun’s Frederick N. Rasmussen reminds of the day in 1988 when exotic dancer Morganna Roberts ran onto the field at Memorial Stadium to plant a kiss on one of our most beloved players (“When ‘The Kissing Bandit’ stole first base from the Orioles’ Cal Ripken Jr.,” Oct. 1). The accompanying photo was priceless.

We shouldn’t turn our backs on life’s challenges. After all, as Thomas Jefferson said, “A well- informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.” But we can appreciate the way sports can distract us from those challenges every now and then.

— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville

On abortion, Harris backs choice, not forced compliance

Letter writer Ed Whitesell asks if Vice President Kamala Harris can be president for all Americans since she supports abortion rights (“Can Harris be a president to Americans who oppose abortion?” Sept. 28). The answer, of course, is yes.

Harris has certainly never suggested that all pregnant women have abortions. She only supports the right of women to have control over their own bodies. So, the letter writer, as a man, has a perfect right to express his views on abortion to all and sundry.

By the same token, all women who oppose abortion have a right to express their views vocally as well and, of course, by never having one.

— Ann Power, Catonsville

Alsobrooks lesson: Time to clean up an inefficient tax code

Recent coverage of the tax error by Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maryland (“Alsobrooks says she owes $18K for property tax underpayments, may owe an additional $41K in penalties and fees,” Sept. 30), raises a fundamental issue. If an attorney using a professional tax preparer could plausibly have made such mistakes, how can the public reasonably be expected to comply with the 6,871-page tax code (with 10 pages of regulations for each page of the code)?

The answer, in part, is that we expend over 15% of the amount of tax paid on efforts at compliance ($104 billion in purchasing tax preparation and filing fees plus an estimated $211.2 billion in personal time for tax compliance activities which amounts to 6.55 billion hours at an average annual salary of $64,000 and a 2,000-hour work year). The IRS spends over $16 billion in the process of collecting taxes.

At a time where we beg for transparency, isn’t it time for the public to know why it is paying 15% more on taxes than it should because of the cumulative effect of tax policies most of which were designed to achieve goals that may be outrageously outdated.

Isn’t it time to start over with a basic tax and then consider what tax preference items should be established? And if we want to give a certain group of people money, then let’s make it clear and simple, just do it directly. We could then track the progress of success and make adjustments as necessary without mystifying the public with an absurdly inefficient tax code.

— Michael MacKay, Lutherville

Geography puts some limits on O’s attendance

An attendance issue for the Orioles and several other older market teams exists (“Under the circumstances, O’s have pretty good attendance,” Sept. 27). The fans have said the owners were too cheap and didn’t spend money on better players or keeping their best ones. That’s not the case this year, so far.

The Orioles have a very good attendance year, have been successful on the field, play in an attractive stadium and yet…

How can they increase in-person attendance? Where are the additional fans coming from? In the South, fans support the Washington Nationals; in the North, the Philadelphia Phillies; in Western Maryland, the Pittsburgh Pirates; and in the East, well, there’s the Atlantic Ocean.

Blame geography and a 162-game season. Form a committee and work on that.

— Damian O’Connor, Baltimore