The Bern should be California’s governor

California, one of the most liberal states, finds itself in financial trouble and wants to extend a temporary tax on high earners to help cover the shortfall (Review-Journal, Monday editorial). The governor, Jerry Brown, is using an old tactic, pleading that the state needs the money for the kids and their schools.

Why doesn’t he accept the fact that you just can’t keep giving everything to those who don’t or can’t support themselves, including immigrants, legal and illegal? Perhaps California ought to secede from the union, taking the state’s handouts with it. Then they could make Bernie Sanders their president and they’d all live happily forever.

Jack Oliver

Las Vegas

Disdain and contempt

Are you kidding me? The university regents could find “no reason” to terminate chancellor Dan Klaich? Let’s put this into perspective. If a UNLV student was determined to have handed in a term paper written by someone else, he certainly wouldn’t be advanced to an early graduation with honors.

Mr. Klaich’s disdain and contempt for the Legislature, the regents and the people of Nevada is as clear as the newspaper in your hand. The fact that the regents unanimously supported him and agreed to pay a lump sum buyout of his contract is all the evidence needed for there to be a recall of the full Board of Regents.

Jon Sias

Las Vegas

No democracy

The Thursday commentary by the leaders of Nevadans for the Common Good (“In pursuit of a different kind of politics”) had many good points. I was disappointed, however, that they did not know the type of government we have in the United States.

More than once they referred to the United States as a democracy. We are not a democracy, and our Founding Fathers specifically did not want a democracy. We are a democratic republic. There is a big difference. Democracies fail when 51 percent of the people realize they can vote themselves free money and quash the 49 percent.

Ben Franklin, when asked as he came out of the Constitutional Convention what kind of government America was going to have, replied: “A republic, if we can keep it.”

We need to teach this distinction over and over to students in the Clark County School District and in schools throughout our great country. How can they involve themselves in the political process if they do not know our type of government?

Our country has survived this long only because we are a republic, not a democracy.

Mike Buttell

Las Vegas

War on locals

MGM officials apparently don’t want locals to attend concerts at T-Mobile Arena or the MGM Grand because they are special events and locals will need to pay for parking during special events.

So unless I really want to see someone I won’t be attending events at MGM-owned entities. If I do, I will park at another company’s lot, have dinner and gamble there, walk to the concert and walk back. I might take a taxi because I would rather pay $30 for that than pay $5 to MGM for parking.

Was this their plan, to drive locals away from going to their concerts? If it was, it worked.

Edward Williams

North Las Vegas