The Saturday LTE's delivered, on schedule:
Broken promises
The Sept. 9 editorial "Referendum used as matter of convenience," on the referendum for a marriage amendment to our state constitution, mentioned the long-lost 1994 GOP promises to the people of North Carolina titled, "A New Contract by the People, for the People." This supposed contract listed eight major items the GOP promised to introduce as legislation in the 1995 session of the General Assembly. As you correctly noted, the contract didn't last very long, and today's GOP has completely and conveniently ignored those earlier promises, along with some made during last year's elections.
In my copy of that contract I note another
critically important promise that the current crop of Republican legislators
chooses to ignore, as the Democrats did before them. That is the promise for
"Real Governance Reform that calls for a 1995 popular referendum on granting
veto power to the
Governor; and that establishes term limits for members of the N.C.
General Assembly and the state's congressional delegation."
Granted, the
governor does have veto power, but there is no discussion today of a
referendum on term limits, which I feel is sorely needed. Too many have stayed
too long and done too little.
Let's face it, whether a
politician is a Democrat or Republican, a Libertarian or of some other party
affiliation, there is one thing we the people have learned, and apparently need
to re-learn every two years. That is that all promises made by any politician
during an election campaign are written in sand.
DAVID M. McMAHON
King
Fair share
In response to having the "rich" pay more of "their fair share:" The president is campaigning on it, especially with his "new" jobs bill (the Son of Stimulus I).
Here's my concern with taxing — excuse me, enhancing revenue — by having the "rich" pay more: What happens when we find out that it's not enough? Where are we going to go after enhancing governmental coffers by raising revenue on people who make $250,000 and over? Are we going to define rich as someone who makes over $100,000? $50,000?
HOWARD CARTER
North Wilkesboro
Something better?
I read with dismay the recent article about the high price tag expected for the campaigns of both sides of the scheduled May 8 referendum on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage ("Marriage vote fight likely to be pricey," Sept. 19). And that was before I got to the story, a few pages later, about the grim hold that poverty has on the lives of people across the country, most certainly in North Carolina and right here in Winston-Salem ("Real lives, real pain hidden behind grim poverty statistics").
Not only is the proposed amendment totally unnecessary, but it is also a discriminatory tool that will take away the rights of many people in our community and further erode the level of civil discourse among us.
Don't we have something better to spend our money on? Nonprofits and educational institutions across the state are struggling to feed our poor, teach our children, keep older adults in their homes, stop domestic violence and child abuse and provide decent housing. Yet we're about to spend millions of dollars on something that will only hurt, not help, us as a society.
That's a shame.
SYLVIA OBERLE
Winston-Salem
Staunch ally
Are nations allowed sovereign, civil rule? The nation of Israel has for so long had its own borders seemingly dictated, or at least disputed, by other nations; especially pro-Palestinian nations. Or should it be termed "anti-Israeli nations"?
Interestingly, even those in the current U.S. administration have backed away from our longstanding ally to passively support an independent Palestinian state within the borders of Israel.
Think for a moment. A nation surrounded by other nations that are hostile, volatile and sworn to destroy Israel is then asked to allow those who have made terrorist attacks and murdered innocent people to be given statehood? If this were posited to any other nation in the world, it would be deemed absurd.
The United Nations is now stacked with representation that would likely turn a deaf ear to Israel's reasoning, and our own president will do what he does best: nothing.
Let Israel conduct its own business; it is a sovereign nation. It is not guilty of human-rights violations, but is preventing another Holocaust.
Our country needs to become the staunch ally it once was and have the backbone to do what is right. America will cease to remain America the beautiful if we tarnish our integrity to such a sincere ally as Israel.
BARRY DAVIS
Yadkinville
Barry Davis: Interestinly enough. By Glenn Kessler.
ReplyDeleteWashington Post Staff Writer.
Wednesday, October 5, 2005.
As Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes traveled through the Middle East last week seeking to burnish the U.S. image, one of her key talking points was that President Bush is the first president to call for a Palestinian state.
"The person I work for, President Bush, is the first president in the history of America to say we believe the Palestinians should have a state, living side by side in peace with Israel,".
Bobby.....that's a pretty lame support quote, especially coming from you. Wouldn't a quote coming directly from Bush have more validity?
ReplyDelete"Not only is the proposed amendment totally unnecessary, but it is also a discriminatory tool that will take away the rights of many people in our community and further erode the level of civil discourse among us."
ReplyDeleteSylva Oberle
Sylva,
There are all kinds of discriminatory practices that are occurring and being condoned in society by various governmental bodies. If you haven't noticed, you are either ignorant, or you are a total nitwit.
Lte1..promises get you into office. Keeping them can get you out of office. It is up to us to recycle these pols. An informed and aroused population is a pols worst night mare.
ReplyDelete56% rate Obama about the same as Bush as president, or worse. That ain't a good sign.
ReplyDeleteGallup Poll
Lte2...fair share?. The tax em more crowd will never put a figure on how much and be done with it. They don't dare. You are right about when "it is not enough". The purpose is to set the premise, then go back to it every campaign. This is empty politics a century old. The politics are played out against the "evil rich". However the tax dollars to be gotten are found in the upper middle and middle classes. We are not undertaxed. We are incorrectly taxed.
ReplyDeleteLte3...We in North Carolina, like citizens in the other 49 states, have 3 common expenditures that require most of our budgeted dollars: education, medication, incarceration.
ReplyDeleteWait until the county does a new property tax reassessment. The value of property will have to be assessed downward. What will happen? Taxes will go up.
ReplyDeleteThen when property values go up, will taxes go down? Not no, but hell no.
We created a monster with government, and we can't get it under control.
George W. Bush
ReplyDeleteRose Garden Speech on Israel-Palestine Two-State Solution
delivered 24 June 2002, White House, Washington, D.C.
Lte4...a two state solution has been the goal of many, even before the now defunct 1993 Oslo Accord. One thing learned after all this time is the "Palestinians" will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Even when the Clinton Adm. offered them a breathtaking offer with nearly all demands met, Arafat turned it down because he had to. If there is to be a two state solution it must be with the recognition of Israel's right to exist in peace as a Jewish State. If "Palestine" becomes a state by proclamation without this acknowledgement, then it will be a terrorist state and can be subject to all out attack if it launches any attack on Israel. No Palestinian leader of today can make this guarantee in a formal treaty and live out the week. Without it there will be no two state solution where each side lives in peace. In the meantime, the "Palestinians" will continue to be what they always have been: disposable Arabs.
ReplyDeletewhat does that mean, WW? disposable Arabs?
ReplyDeleteBob...it is an ugly notion which essentially means they are used by the other Arab regimes to be a thorn in Israels side. The palestinian is doing what Arab armies over the last 60 years could not do. Palestinians are also a useful deflection for Arab government's sorry conditions in their own countries.
ReplyDeleteAssociated Press (AP) Obama's Job Bill Won't Help Much
ReplyDeleteIn a stunning response to Obama's Job Bill, the usually liberal AP has come out with a report that says Obama's Job Bill won't help and that the economy would still remain in a recession for several years if passed.
Obama is so much like Jimmy Carter that it isn't even funny. Day after day after day, he continues to step on it.
I believe Obama will go down in history as one of our worse presidents.
Good PM, folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE1: I'm all for term limits, extending to an absolute limit on total time in state and Federal office. I'm also in favor of ending gerrymandering, but that is no more likely than ending gravity.
LTE2: Hard to say. IIRC, during the Clinton regime, "rich" was $75K a year. However, I suspect a politician would be foolish nowadays to define "rich" as lower than $250K.
LTE3: I agree with this LTE.
LTE4: I believe that this writer is looking at Israel through rose-colored glasses. I generally support Israel, but its mulishness re settlements has jammed the so-called peace process for years. There must be give and take on both sides. The Palestinians deserve a state of there own, but the Israelis deserve recognition of the right to exist and to have defensible borders. OTOH, some territory must be ceded and the settlements removed.
A dirty little secret about Palestinian statehood is that not all Arab countries at that keen for it. Palestinians are generally bright and industrious. Many thousands of expat Palestinians make-up the professional and middle management backbones of countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Such countries look with apprehension over a reverse diaspora of Palestinians.
At the end there Stab is referring to the same thing that WW mentioned. All players in this mess have used the Palestinians as pawns.
ReplyDeleteBut there are many dirty little secrets in this struggle, specifically torture and terrorism used by both sides. The Israeli's must accept just as much responsibility for the problems as anyone else. If they cannot find a way to solve the problem, eventually they will be overwhelmed.
As Stab points out, many Palestinians have emigrated to other nations. One of the best restaurants in Forsyth County for many years was Bon Apetit, operated by a Palestinian man and his family.
In a shocker, the guy I like in the Republican primary presidential race, Herman Cain, won the Florida Straw Poll.
ReplyDeleteHello, Bucky.
ReplyDeleteOn reflection, I don't think Cain's victory is that surprising, though the margin is, with Cain at 37%, Perry at 15, Romney 14, Santorum 11, then Huntsman and Gringrich, with Bachmann last at 10%, only 40 votes out of around 2500 cast. I don't think the R primary electorate has been very excited over the field, and the bloom has come off the front-running roses pretty quickly.
I'm sure that Christie and his people will have taken notice of the results, which may encourage him to take the plunge.
Cain himself is interesting, a former CEO, an able communicator, and of course, an African-American running as a Republican. One might ponder a debate between a Teleprompterless President Obama and a quick-witted and generally affable (and popular in his broadcast area) radio host.
Beyond appearances, Cain brings a tax reform plan with him, the 9-9-9 plan. Now, whether that is viable is quite open to question, but at least he brings meat to the table, instead of the usual vague allegiance to jobs and education accompanied by studied and stale enmity to government.
This turn of events may attract more interest in the already grinding campaign. It's now more fun for me.