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I am a small businessman--a midtown store-owner--who, post-9/11, has made too little money to worry about taxes. I worry about whether NYC will ever get all the $20 Billion pledged for reconstruction if there's a second term for Bush. I need an employee but am waiting to see what happens Nov.2. Not that Kerry guarantees a better local economy, but when things are bad, change stimulates optimism. P.B.

How come you and everyone else says that if your gross income is $200,000, you are rich? Consider a single fellow living in NYC with a kid in college. First, Federal, New York State and NYC taxes substantially reduce available cash. Tuition and expenses of the kid take a lot of money. Sending some money to needy old parents takes more. Add an unexpected medical expense and the guy is broke. He either rents a studio or one bedroom apartment in Manhattan or owns or rents a modest apartment in a borough. He cannot afford anything that someone making $40,000 a year in Ohio can afford. S.R.