Columnist needs to check his facts

I don't believe I've ever read a more uninformed guest column than the one written by Garland Horn in the Feb. 8, 2012, issue of the Collinsville Herald.

Mr. Horn begins the column with the falsehood that President Barack Obama already has $1 billion in his campaign chest. According to the Federal Election Commission, President Obama has received $125.2 million in donations as of Dec. 31, 2011. Forty percent of those donations were $200 or less. Fifty-two percent of those donations were less than $500.

Next, he says that Mitt Romney paid 35 percent in, I assume, federal income taxes. According to the tax forms Romney released on Jan. 24, 2012, Romney paid 14.5 percent, well below the 35 percent top tax rate for high earners and far below tax rates paid by most middle income working people. President Obama paid 26 percent. Mr. Horn then states that 47 percent of Americans don't pay any income tax. Not surprising in that 750,000 Americans per month were losing their jobs when President Obama took office. Three million jobs have been created since the bottom of the Great Recession.

Finally, he says that Romney didn't inherit his wealth. This might be half true. Ann, Romney's wife, talking about their college years, said the following, "We were happy, studying hard. Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time." It's not clear who paid for his education, but Romney wasn't exactly a struggling student: enough cash for plane tickets to visit his future wife, a car as a wedding gift, stock that kept him from having to work, help from his parents in buying a home.

It would serve Mr. Horn well if he were to do more research before posting his opinions (not facts) in a public forum such as the Herald.

Jim Bettonville

Edwardsville