Winston-Salem Journal LTE's SU 10/09/11

Sympathetic Congress

I would like to publicly thank Rep. Virginia Foxx for her Sept. 30 guest column, "It's time to trim congressional perks." This column not only corrects common misinformation about Social Security payments and health-plan payments made by members of Congress, it also explains how they pay for pensions. There is also very detailed information about pensions received by members of Congress and how much higher these payments can be than non-government pensions.

This column is very timely. Because of the very poor economic situation in our country, we all realize some of our taxpayer money that is being spent has to be curtailed. It is not true that our trillion-dollar deficits will be reduced very much by cutting back on pensions in Congress, but it is very true that by cutting pensions, Congress will be showing the American people that it is sympathetic with the plight of millions of citizens. We need this kind of change to show all of us that we are equal citizens of a great nation.

It takes much courage for Foxx to write a column like this. I hope that the bill sponsored by her and Rep. Mike Coffman from Colorado passes with an overwhelming vote.

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JOHN A. MASELLI

Winston-Salem

Looking at the horizon

As a registered Democrat, but politically speaking an independent, my belief is that one should vote for the candidate who can be most effective rather than simply voting for the party. Looking at the horizon and observing the Republican candidates for president, I am appalled and saddened. Imagine Rep. Michele Bachmann as our chief executive. Imagine a George W. Bush clone named Gov. Rick Perry as president. As I look at the horizon, I do not see a Teddy Roosevelt riding to our rescue.

When I look at the horizon and observe the Democratic Party, I do not see a Harry Truman with his motto, "The buck stops here." Nor do I see a Franklin D. Roosevelt being wheeled onto center stage, offering a plan to get us out of the abyss brought about by George W. Bush's failed policies. When I look at the horizon, I see only Barack Obama in the Democratic field. I feel President Obama is a good man and has the interests of the American people at heart, but I question whether he is up to the task. The truth is, the job of president is too big for one person to handle.

When I look at the horizon and the future, I see more gridlock and more one-upmanship between the executive and legislative branches of government, and, ultimately, we the American people will be the losers.

Therefore, we must put our total trust not in politicians but in the living God.

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JACK LUTZ

King

Transparency

I would like to assure the communities of Forsyth, Stokes, Davie and Rockingham counties that CenterPoint is a financially stable and transparent organization and takes very seriously its job of managing services related to mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse.

Our current annual budget is approximately $44 million, of which $6.2 million is allocated to us by the state for administrative operations. Service and administration dollars are never in competition with one another, and administrative salaries have no impact on the service dollars used to enhance our local delivery system.

Despite years of state budget cuts, we have strived to deliver as many services as possible to those in need. Operationally, the fund balance is used to bridge the gap between provider billings and untimely state reimbursement. In the fiscal years 2008-2010, CenterPoint utilized its fund balance to allocate an additional $3.7 million to offset cuts in state service funding.

We follow public information request guidelines, present quarterly reports to all four boards of county commissioners, and post them on our website along with our annual budgets and audits. Prior to each adopted budget, we post a drafted budget and hold an open public hearing. Finances are overseen by a finance committee and board of directors. Those meetings are open to the public, and minutes and documentation from the meetings are posted on our website.

The board welcomes anyone who would like to sit with our board or finance committee to review any questions regarding our financial strength or transparency.

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BRENDA GIBSON

CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CENTERPOINT HUMAN SERVICES

Winston-Salem

Follow

How in the world some people think that they can follow Jesus while also chasing money is beyond me. "You cannot serve God and mammon," Jesus said (Luke 16:13). But nobody takes him seriously — certainly not our politicians or business leaders.

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MARTIN MASON

Winston-Salem


Correspondent of the Week

Perry right on illegals
Your editorial "Rick Perry is right, but it may cost him" (Sept. 28) was right on target — and the situation is so telling.

Here's a conservative leader in a Southern state with a porous border, and his studied conclusion is that you can't just ship people out of the country — it just wouldn't work . You have to recognize the special circumstances that bring some people into America, and you have to treat them like human beings. And this stance, of all things, will likely cost him the Republican nomination; his practical philosophy is just not crazy enough for the tea party.

I'm not a Republican and I don't care to be, but I'll admit: Who should know better how to handle the border issue than politicians who have to actually deal with it on a day-to-day basis? Ronald Reagan promoted amnesty, George W. Bush promoted a path to citizenship, but the supposedly Christian conservatives who now run the Republican Party are too stone-cold hard-hearted to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

You take a Hispanic kid who grew up in the U.S. and has never been to Mexico and you ship him there — it's like exiling him to a foreign country. There's not a single proponent of doing so who would want his or her own children to be treated that way. But it's OK to do that to a Mexican.

The tea-party Republicans have come up short when it comes to simple humanity — never mind reason and sanity.

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HARVEY SINK
Winston-Salem