To the Editor:

Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, has unleashed a series of negative flyers against his opponent, Jane Hipps. His flyers are full of lies and half-truths. His claims about her raising taxes are obviously fabrications; can you believe any politician would stand before a white male audience to tell them she will raise their taxes by 15 percent? This is shoddy defamation by a shoddy politician, but unfortunately, it is shoddy political rhetoric we endure almost daily. 

As to the Davis claim of cutting taxes for the middle class, he is really just shifting your taxes. You now pay sales tax on labor charges and other areas that you did not pay before. If you get your car serviced, the largest portion of the bill is usually for labor; now that labor will cost you 7 percent more under the Davis sales tax. Your license plate tags now cost you almost double, as will your driver’s license renewals, and the list goes on and on. What little you save on income tax will cost you double in other taxes and higher fees.

Davis is a puppet of ALEC, the organization that promotes government to the highest bidder. He has voted to gerrymander much of North Carolina; voted to allow fracking in Western North Carolina; voted to deny federal extensions to Medicaid, a serious loss to our community; voted to allow private financing of student loans for our two-year colleges, costing students millions by opting out of federal loan assistance; voted to limit damages for medical malpractice; and voted to reduce healthcare options for teachers. Still, the senator feels compelled to use deception to win the game. To find the real truth, check with the Democrat Men’s Club in Franklin or with Jane herself; then go to votesmart.org, a bipartisan vote site, to check on Davis’ voting record. 

 Sen. Davis is not originally from North Carolina, while Jane Hipps is a native North Carolinian with a long history in Western North Carolina as a teacher and pediatric nurse. She has observed the political arena of District 50 first hand through the political career of her husband and as a resident for many years. I hope you noticed her recent endorsement by Aaron Martin, a former North Carolina Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.

Since 2009 and 2010, North Carolina has undergone a strategic makeover called Redmap: a plan designed by Art Pope to turn North Carolina red by gerrymandering, large infusions of money, and by orchestrating a right-wing smear campaign on Democrats. But I know you will agree with me that politics should not be a get-rich-quick forum for billionaires. Be informed: check out this article by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/10/state-for-sale.  

With a large turnout in the 2016 elections by a well-informed electorate, we can return to a better North Carolina, especially Western North Carolina, more focused on the needs of the middle-class.

Ruth Ballard

Hayesville

Editor’s note: The flyers attacking Jane Hipps — Sen. Jim Davis’ opponent — are from the N.C. Republican Party and state that they are “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”