LETTERS: McDonald the new ‘Teflon Don’

Regarding John L. Smith's column, I am just curious as to whether Michael McDonald will donate his body to science to study when he dies ("McDonald's loan role looking more clear," Tuesday Review-Journal). This man's skin has to be made of Teflon.

Mr. McDonald seems to have his fingers stuck in every shady deal in the state and never gets prosecuted for anything. He was elected as a Las Vegas city councilman with absolutely no experience. Lord knows how many favors he provided there while representing his constituents. He was then caught up in the "G Sting" scandal along with his high school buddy, Michael Galardi, and Rick Rizzolo. He then finagled the land deal with City Hall, in cahoots with Frank Hawkins, who had his own shady ventures.

Then he was chosen as Nevada's Republican Party chair, again with no experience, and declared bankruptcy while short-selling his house to billionaire gambler Billy Walters. How did this happen with all of these hundreds of thousands of dollars he made as a "consultant"? What a glorious resume endorsement.

Now, his latest fiasco with the Med Lien/Miracle Flights for Kids Loan has him again in hot water. I guess if we always made sure we were listed as a go-between with this roster of cronies, we all could stay out of prison, too. Mr. McDonald makes "Teflon Don" John Gotti look like flypaper.

Robin Quest

Las Vegas

Reid and the Iran deal

I read that Sen. Harry Reid announced his support for allowing Iran to build its nuclear devices and to do its own inspections ("Reid supports Iran nuke deal," Monday Review-Journal). Isn't it just great that we plan to give the wolf the keys to the henhouse and say, "Hey, we trust you. We know you folks don't really mean it when you say, 'Death to America.'" These are the same mental giants who gave us Obamacare and $20 trillion in debt.

Thomas C. Malich Sr.

Las Vegas

Trump immigration plan

Donald Trump has managed to excite many ignorant voters with his tough talk and so-called program regarding immigration reform. He plans to build a formidable wall and have Mexico pay for its construction (and they will "like paying for it"). He also plans to round up all 11 million (or more) people in the U.S. illegally and ship them back to where they came from.

Talk like this makes him very popular with voters who don't bother to think. Perhaps this is also his plan to create jobs for Americans. Consider: The wall would require several billion dollars to complete and would certainly employ many construction workers for a number of years. I'm sure he would take particular care to ensure that all of them were American citizens.

Rounding up 11 million people would also be a boon to U.S. employment figures. Currently, we have 4,575 prisons in operation in the U.S. (as of 2012, more than four times the number of second-place Russia with 1,029). Those prisons hold approximately 2.2 million people. Many of those prisons are overcrowded. So Mr. Trump would have to build a large number of new prisons in order to hold the people he rounds up. That construction alone would employ thousands more Americans.

He would also have to hire thousands of citizens to serve as prison guards, and one can only imagine the number of immigration control officers needed to round up 11 million people. It would have to be many thousands.

What about the judicial system? Wouldn't there be a pressing need for more courts, lawyers and judges? After all, our current court system couldn't handle 11 million new cases, even spread over several years.

And I wonder if he figured out the cost of interviewing, hiring and training all of these thousands of unemployed Americans. Would he eventually run out of unemployed Americans? Would he need to resort to employing foreigners?

Does Mr. Trump's plan include some sort of tax increase to pay for the countless billions of dollars it would cost? Does it include a time frame for completion? Maybe his plan is, to use the politically correct term, bovine excrement. Trump supporters, please exercise your brains. The emperor has no clothes.

David Adams

Las Vegas

Smoking in casinos

The time has come for casinos to face reality: cigarette smoke kills. Our legislators must get down to business and require casinos to install separate areas for smokers, so that the rest of us don't have to risk our lives to enjoy an evening in a casino.

Smokers could play anywhere they wish in the casinos, but if they want to kill themselves by smoking, at least let them just kill each other and not the rest of us. If the airports can do it, the casinos can do it.

Aileen Zsenyuk

Las Vegas