Low standards
DON WITTE
Advance
Advocating
JOHN A. REDDING
Lewisville
Fair
The recent legislative action to allow the people of N.C. to vote on the marriage amendment to the state constitution could not be anything but fair. I just wish I could have had the same opportunity to vote on the health-care bill the U.S. citizens got shoved down their throats. What has happened to "We, the People"; should not the majority still rule by vote?
ALLEN TODD
Winston-Salem
Fiscal conservatism
Ronald Reagan, the epitome of fiscal conservatism to the Republican Right, left a legacy of financial disaster.
Every administration before Reagan, from Truman through Carter, reduced the national debt relative to GDP. When Reagan took office, debt was $994 billion and 32.5 percent of GDP. The highest personal income-tax rate was 70 percent. When he left office in 1989, the "millionaires' rate" had been slashed to 28 percent, deregulation was thriving, and the debt had tripled to $2.8 trillion. George H.W. Bush piled on another $1.5 trillion in debt before Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich joined to reduce expenditures 15 percent and briefly generated a surplus.
Following Reagan's lead with a vengeance, George W. Bush started two disastrous wars, expanded Medicare, cut taxes further, and by the end of fiscal 2009 had raised spending 37 percent to an unsustainable 25 percent of GDP, 25 times the level of corporate tax receipts, doubled the debt he had inherited to nearly $1.2 trillion, or 84 percent of GDP, and left the country's economy in a near depression.
How the very Republicans who brought us this disaster can now blame Obama Democrats and point to Reagan's supply-side failures as the road to salvation can only be attributed to the powerful voices of the richest among us who are the only ones who have and will continue to benefit from insane tax and spending policies.
RICHARD B. HILTON
Advance
Over the last several weeks we have read and
listened to the reports on the changes that the
president made to the national No Child Left Behind program ("Obama offers
relief on No Child," Sept. 24). He was allowing states to essentially do what
they wanted to change the program to their own needs. All this tells me is that
the education standards for our children have been lowered. Obviously our president
does not have the same standards that I have, and that is very disappointing.
What is even more disappointing is that Superintendent
Don
Martin of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools said the bar was too high
and called it "stupid." I would offer that Martin
either can't meet those standards or is totally unable to even comprehend what
is required to accomplish it. So it appears that my standards are also higher
than his.
Certainly the program was not perfect, and our
do-nothing Congress
also didn't have any idea how to make it better, and maybe that is really the
reason the
president acted. Of course it could also have been that it was a Bush
program, which to many people makes it bad. Time will tell and the educational
standards will go down. I and hopefully many more will remember that when the
election comes around.
DON WITTE
Advance
Advocating
I have noticed for some time the Journal has
become an advocate
for various and sundry groups or individuals. I always thought a newspaper
was supposed to report news impartially and only
advocate on the editorial page. Guess I was wrong. When we advocate, should
we advocate for anyone or any group that is violating the laws of the land?
Always when we advocate for someone or some group we are advocating against
someone else.
I noticed the two Americans who accidentally
crossed over the Iranian border were released after a $1 million
bond was paid for their release, making the total $1.5
million for the original three ("Detention unjust, hikers say," Sept. 26). I
found it way back on page A10 rather than on the front page. On the front page
was a glowing story about individuals who were brought into our country
illegally ("Church hears speakers for DREAM Act," Sept. 26). If we were like Iran
they would have been put into jail for many years.
I know the old cliché that we are all descendents of immigrants, but they
were legal. I would hope that the editorial page would be used for advocacy in
the future.JOHN A. REDDING
Lewisville
Fair
The recent legislative action to allow the people of N.C. to vote on the marriage amendment to the state constitution could not be anything but fair. I just wish I could have had the same opportunity to vote on the health-care bill the U.S. citizens got shoved down their throats. What has happened to "We, the People"; should not the majority still rule by vote?
ALLEN TODD
Winston-Salem
Fiscal conservatism
Ronald Reagan, the epitome of fiscal conservatism to the Republican Right, left a legacy of financial disaster.
Every administration before Reagan, from Truman through Carter, reduced the national debt relative to GDP. When Reagan took office, debt was $994 billion and 32.5 percent of GDP. The highest personal income-tax rate was 70 percent. When he left office in 1989, the "millionaires' rate" had been slashed to 28 percent, deregulation was thriving, and the debt had tripled to $2.8 trillion. George H.W. Bush piled on another $1.5 trillion in debt before Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich joined to reduce expenditures 15 percent and briefly generated a surplus.
Following Reagan's lead with a vengeance, George W. Bush started two disastrous wars, expanded Medicare, cut taxes further, and by the end of fiscal 2009 had raised spending 37 percent to an unsustainable 25 percent of GDP, 25 times the level of corporate tax receipts, doubled the debt he had inherited to nearly $1.2 trillion, or 84 percent of GDP, and left the country's economy in a near depression.
How the very Republicans who brought us this disaster can now blame Obama Democrats and point to Reagan's supply-side failures as the road to salvation can only be attributed to the powerful voices of the richest among us who are the only ones who have and will continue to benefit from insane tax and spending policies.
RICHARD B. HILTON
Advance
Alen Todd: the majority does not rule in this country and it's not supposed to, the LAWS rule, the majority of people who vote get to elect those that govern. If the majority ruled, Al Gore would have been president.
ReplyDeleteLTE...#2 " If we were like Iran they would have been put into jail for many years."
ReplyDeleteGood think we are not like Iran.
"Always when we advocate for someone or some group we are advocating against someone else." False.
...
I'm an advocate for Breast Cancer Research, so who am I advocating against?
"I know the old cliché that we are all descendents of immigrants but they came here legally".
Really? All of them? Prior to 1790 there were no Naturalization laws.
"I'm planning an old fashioned Thanksgiving this year. I plan to invite all my neighbors to a big feast, kill them, then take all their land."
"I have noticed for some time the Journal has become an advocate for various and sundry groups or individuals. I always thought a newspaper was supposed to report news impartially and only advocate on the editorial page."
ReplyDeleteJohn A. Redding
________
Anybody with half a brain has noticed that the Journal has become an advocate for all kinds of liberal causes. Even in the LTEs section, it is painfully obvious that more liberal letters are routinely published. I spoke to Nick Scott, the LTEs Sections Chief, about this severals years ago. He said the Journal did it's own independent evaluation of the numbers, and he said the letters were equal in conservative and liberal positions.
I guess if you're making up the rules as you go, anything can fit into your idea of equal. What a joke.
And those of us with both halves of our brains, bucky, have learned to make other choices when something becomes obviously and routinely painful.
ReplyDeleteBut I enjoy kicking your ass and as long as you enjoy it, OHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
ReplyDeleteBobby...I've spanked you verbally so many times that I feel like your boyfriend sometimes. So don't even go there.
ReplyDeleteI don't even read the paper on line anymore, if that tells you how little credibility I give to the Journal.
ReplyDeleteI picked one up the other day when a friend bought one. It felt like the funny papers of old, both in content and size.
Then why take the time to comment on it's content, especially on a routine basis, that's illogical, non-productive, and irresponsible. I mean, how credible is that???
ReplyDeleteI realize, of course, that daily repartee with a gay man can be enlightening, so I give you credit for that.
ReplyDeleteBut
ReplyDelete"Nothin' seems to change
Bad times stay the same
And I can't run
Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel..........
Rules for Gay Repartee:
ReplyDelete9)Always open the door, then demand that no one go there.
you got that merit badge, Bucky, @9:57am.
Take it to the Kitty Kat, Bucky
ReplyDeleteBob....no future in being "tied to the whipping post"...
ReplyDeleteBobby....I've had about enough of the Kitty Kat and the Kitty Kats. Can you talk to your bud Stab?
ReplyDeleteA feast of ignorance today, except #4.
ReplyDeleteLTE #1 - Obviously does not understand No Child Left Behind. It lays out requirements, but has always allowed the states to control the heart of the program, the standardized tests. A few years ago, Missouri admitted that they had redone their tests to make them easier, thus producing much better results. Nothing much has really changed.
As to its being a Bush product, I think the real objection to the program has been that all it really did was add yet another layer of bureaucracy to public education. It never did work, just added work for already overworked teachers.
LTE #2 – There is a difference between covering and advocating. The Journal covers the news…if the subject matter offends Mr. Redding maybe it is because he is out of touch with what is going on in the community.
As to international news being on page A10, again Mr. Redding is in the dark. I guess he hasn’t noticed that the Journal and almost all smaller dailies have quite a bit less space to fill these days, and almost all have committed to covering local news over national and international. Want to read about hostages there are zillions of sources online and on cable.
LTE #3 – Hopeless. Do we no longer teach American history in our schools? Do teachers not explain the difference between a “democracy” and a “republic”? Do they not explain why the Founding Fathers wisely chose the republic?
From comments by folks like Deb, Bo and other “strict constitutionalists”, it is obvious that they do not explain the role that courts were designed to play and that Supreme Court decisions become an extension of the Constitution upon which those rulings are based.
LTE #4 – I’m sure that the Reagan/Bush apologists will jump all over this, because they continue to live in a fairyland of the mind. That said, Obama’s biggest failing has been a lack of forcefulness when dealing with Congress. What we really need right now is a reincarnation of Truman or LBJ, both of whom knew how to hold the Congressional feet to the fire.
I see that Buckram has plenty of misinfo, as usual.
ReplyDelete1. He didn't talk to Nick Scott, because there is no such person.
2. As "Nick" told him, the letters are carefully balanced across the political spectrum.
3. Anyone who throws around the terms "liberal" and "conservative" as loosely as Buckhead does is prima facie ignorant, because the way he uses those terms is meaningless without strict definitions. He wouldn't know a liberal if it bit him on his Buckbutt.
4. He has never given anybody on this site any kind of spanking. His idea of "winning" an argument is to blow off a lot of hot air with no facts behind it, and to treat real facts posted by others as if they didn't exist.
In other words, BuckBadend is really just Mister Bluster, the Know Nothing.
Rules for Radicals 101: take over means of communications.
ReplyDeleteDon't like Kitty Kat's? Well, that's why we here at the branch office offer a variety of feline experiences. I recommend The Leopard's Limb.
Good PM, folks!
ReplyDeleteOT, there is a Mick Scott, who handles the LTE's for the Journal. I have spoken with him and communicated with him via email. He is courteous, fair, and displays no overt bias. I know Carl Crothers, former editor, who speaks well of Mick.
As for the paper's news coverage, I note a good bit of seemingly favorable coverage of the Occupy Wherever people. As Bob noted, I should be able to form my own opinion, and of course, have.
Back to work.
I guess 'Mick' in southern English sounded like Nick to me. Oh well, what a huge mistake. I guess Rush/KittyKat/Idiot wins again.
ReplyDeleteStab, I said that there was no such person as "Nick" Scott, because that is the name that Buckover gave. I have known Mick Scott for years. He is an excellent journalist, one of the best at the Journal, which still has quite a few good ones.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a newspaper "covers" something does not mean that they are for or against it, simply that they think their readers will be interested and thus buy the paper. The Journal is owned by Media General, the principal owners of which are the Bryan family of Virginia. I know several of them...they are not right wingers, but they are conservative Republicans. All of their newspapers endorsed Geo W. Bush in 2000. So the idea that any of their papers are "liberal" (please define) is kind of silly.
As to Buckalong's problems with southern English, I thought immigrants were supposed to learn the native tongue...that's one of the things that the haters keep screaming. If he can't handle it, he is welcome to crawl back under whatever rock he came from.
ReplyDeleteEqually, Rush/KittyKat/Idiot/Nitwit...just because a paper is owned by conservatives, doesn't mean that the paper will publish predominately conservative articles.
ReplyDeleteYour silly statement is equal to saying all blacks are dumb, just because a few are.
Actually, my statement is NOT equal to your statement. You need to take a course in logic, because you are always making false analogies, which is comparing unlike things.
ReplyDeleteJeez! Like arguing with a parrot. No matter what is said to the parrot, he always says the same thing back. Why? Because that is all he knows how to say.
And I did not say that the paper would publish predominantly "conservative" (please define) articles. I just said that to think that conservatives would publish a "liberal" (please define) newspaper is kind of silly. Learn to read and comprehend...that's why we have schools.
OT, I assumed a prominent downtown resident would know Mick. I share your opinion.
ReplyDeleteI maintain, however, that some bias does go into reporting at times, and it appears to me that the Occupy Wherever people received pretty good treatment. But, my opinion is based on my own biases, which aren't quite so sunny.
I highly recommend Elementary Logic by Michael D Resnik,.......... and don't let "elementary" fool you, bucky, it's not logic for dummies.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Bob...Resnik's book is excellent. Of course there IS a book called Logic for Dummies. I browsed through it back in the good old days when Borders was an actual store at Thruway and thought it did a pretty good job. I did catch a couple of typos that might confuse someone not paying attention, and found the section on logical fallacies a bit underdone.
ReplyDeleteIn college, because I had had so many math courses in high school, the chair of the math department suggested that I try the intro to logic course as a sub for freshman math. A great choice. Went on to take the advanced course as well.
One of the biggest problems that we have right now in the USA is a lack of logical thought. Both the president and Congress need to stop talking and start thinking, or we might just get plunged into a real depression.
OK, I'll bite: I ordered Resnik's book, used paperback, from Amazon. If I am to debate with logicians to the left of me, I should be better equipped. I don't know when I'll find time to read it, but perhaps it's a good lunch table read.
ReplyDeleteBucky: Bob needn't talk with me re Kitty Kat's Korner. Bob is managing this site for us since my employment has changed. He may establish whatever rooms he wishes. I guess it's like Media General's owners, whose editorial opinions may be to the right of the editors of individual papers, but who put together a salable paper.
ReplyDeleteThis is not unusual. Years ago, someone asked Henry Luce, the founder of "Time" magazine, why Luce, a conservative, tolerated the center-left stance of his periodical. Luce explained, "For some GD reason, Republicans can't write!"
LTE1: Don Witte is a friend and a good member of the community. He has helped many a professional and manager, including me, and has been a leader in his church.
ReplyDeleteNo one is perfect, though, and Don errs in this LTE. Teachers will tell you that the bar was set too high, as their superintendent said. Unfortunately, the changes being instituted are no better, and involve more stupid useless meetings and time-wasting workshops. I do not understand what so-called educators don't understand about lesson planning and classroom set-up.
As for Bush and NCLB, as noted by dotnet here, that was put together by both the Bush Administration and the late skipper of the USS Oldsmobile, Teddy Kennedy.
LTE2: As noted above, the writer does not understand our republican form of government.
ReplyDeleteLTE3: OK, the LTE writer got it off his chest about his opinion of how we got here. He left out the part about how we are to emerge.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI figured the room's master 'nitwit' would be in New York or Boston babbling his nonsense. He/she/it would fit in magnificently with the moronic protesters up there.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you have limited time Stab. What's the word on your run for the BOE in Forsyth County?
ReplyDelete"A lot of these liberal, leftist folk in this country, that are black, they're more racist than the white people that they're claiming to be racist."
ReplyDeleteHerman Cain
___________
Mr. Cain .....likewise...we have a bunch of white people that call people names that would more logically fit into the names and categories that they call and label other people.
You're a racist, no you're a racist. The liberal left doesn't want their buzz words taken away from them. It's hilarious.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/topvideos/2011/10/11/ac-herman-cain-racism-flap.cnn