LETTERS: Who will put country’s interests first?
To the editor:
Steve Sebelius’ column in Friday’s Review-Journal suggests that the health care battle is over and that Republicans should accept that as fact and move on (“Health care is not the never-ending battle”). Would Mr. Sebelius have suggested that abolitionists accept slavery and move on after the failure to get references to the evils of slavery into the Declaration of Independence? Maybe the abolitionists should have given up after the Constitution’s specific language that slaves counted less than a full person for determining representation in Congress. Certainly abolitionists should have folded their tents after the Dred Scott case was decided by the Supreme Court.
The new health care law is but one facet of unsustainable government spending. More and more people are living on government checks: people like me on Social Security; exploding numbers of people working in government jobs; the less fortunate who need government assistance; and select subsidized industries.
Republicans claim to be concerned about who is going to pay for all this, but will they sacrifice some of their sacred cows to get a deal? Does anyone have the integrity to step up and tell the truth? Do we have a statesman left who will put the good of the country above his own interests? I weep for what has happened to us.
ROBERT LAFLEUR
LAS VEGAS
Veterans Day
To the editor:
I recently attended a meeting of one of the leading veterans organizations in Las Vegas, and one of the subjects that received much discussion was whether to participate in the upcoming Veterans Day parade. The reason for possibly not marching in the parade is the fact that for the past several years, veterans units have been relegated to positions much closer to the rear of the march than the front.
Efforts to change this situation have fallen on the deaf ears of parade organizers. School marchers, civilian clubs, politicians and even horses have preceded veterans in the parade lineup. This is a parade to honor veterans. How dare parade officials place men and women who have defended our country — many of whom shed blood for our freedom — in secondary positions on their day. Unless parade organizers take immediate action to correct this situation, the city of Las Vegas will suffer the embarrassment of having its veterans organizations boycotting the Veterans Day Parade.
DONALD SACCO
HENDERSON
Cost versus save
To the editor:
The headline on Jane Ann Morrison’s Saturday column regarding the More Cops tax vote by the Clark County Commission should’ve read “Collins, Brager save taxpayers millions,” rather than “Collins, Brager cost police millions.” Only in leftist circles does not spending money actually cost something. Does Ms. Morrison think spending $400 for that $500 television that’s on sale actually saves money? The last item I checked, the only way for me to save money was to keep it in my bank account.
VICTOR MOSS
LAS VEGAS
Shutdown blame game
To the editor:
Regarding the letter from Ronald Washington (“House GOP does al-Qaida’s bidding,” Wednesday Review-Journal), Mr. Washington commented that House Republicans have shut down America. Mr. Washington is correct when he states that our enemies have successfully recruited members of Congress to do their dirty work, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., can take credit for shutting down the government, along with President Barack Obama.
Mr. Washington needs to read what happened more closely, because it was Sen. Reid and President Obama who had the last say on whether the government was shut down, since neither of them wanted to sit down with Republican representatives to work out a compromise. Sorry, Mr. Washington, but your argument on this matter is invalid.
RICHARD DUNLAP
WASHINGTON, UTAH
