Supercommittee members should be fired

To the editor:

With just hours remaining for the bipartisan supercommittee to reach a deficit-reduction deal, it's time these members of Congress got a dose of reality -- the reality faced every day by their constituents: If the job they are being paid to do is not done properly and in a timely fashion, they should be fired.

Their job is to reach a compromise on reducing our nation's deficit spending and future debt. It seems these 12 individuals are unwilling to complete the task assigned to them. They are apparently unable to rise above the politics of party or serve the needs of the people. These senators and representatives who cannot make the hard decisions their jobs require would be fired in the world that you and I inhabit.

Unfortunately, recall elections are extremely costly, so it will probably be necessary for the folks back home to suffer the consequences of this political gridlock until the next election cycle. Remember these names the next time they come asking for your vote, and let them take their turn in the unemployment line:

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., co-chairs; Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., John Kerry, D-Mass., Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., Dave Camp, R-Mich., James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Fred Upton, R-Mich. Their supervisors are Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Peggy Gibson

Las Vegas

Public vs. private

To the editor:

I usually really enjoy Ed Graney's sports columns. But in his Saturday column about Bishop Gorman's Friday high school football playoff victory over Palo Verde, he wrote, "Mostly, it's just really good prep football."

Wow, do I disagree -- 35-7 looks like a blowout to me.

Bishop Gorman playing the public schools is a joke. The private school cherry picks the best local talent by offering scholarships, an admittedly superior education and the opportunity to play on a sure-thing winning team. What talented youngster would pass that up?

This is the most egregious case of an un-level playing field I have ever seen. Palo Verde has risen to the top, but it has no chance to go further.

Bishop Gorman shouldn't count. This situation does not pass the smell test.

Phil Mank

Las Vegas

Free camping

To the editor:

I suggest that the Occupy Las Vegas protesters, who have announced their attention to "occupy" foreclosed homes throughout the valley, allow their names and addresses to be published so someone can occupy their homes while they are absent for the three or four months when they are not in residence.

I am appalled that these people have been granted an additional three-month extension at their encampment near the Thomas & Mack Center by Clark County (Saturday Review-Journal). But it is nice to know that I don't have to haul all my gear up to Mount Charleston and pay a $19-per-night fee to camp when all I have to do is demand that Clark County officials allow me a place to pitch my tent.

K. Gibbons

Henderson