Angle’s ineptitude a blessing for Harry Reid
To the editor:
I couldn't believe when I read that, almost six weeks after the primary, Sharron Angle still doesn't have a campaign war room or a communications director ("Poll sends Angle wake-up call" July 18 Review-Journal). Didn't she know that less than five months after the primary she'd be on the ballot with Harry Reid?
And she's wasted six weeks doing what? The only time she speaks seems to be with conservative media, and even with them, she makes gaffes (the BP "slush fund," comparing how God prepared her for a Senate run to how he prepared Moses, Paul and Jesus for their works, etc.). Is it any wonder she's falling in the polls week after week?
She's running against a man who is so unpopular that almost any person picked off the street could beat him -- but she can't and it's because of her ineptitude. I hope the tea party will remember this in the future and pick candidates who are capable and competent to run in general elections. What a waste that they endorsed her -- she was, and is, Sen. Reid's best hope for keeping his job.
Pamela McCoole
Las Vegas
Reid hypocrisy
To the editor:
How much does Harry Reid care about Nevadans and Americans? Just the other night he spent his valuable time as Senate majority leader at a fundraiser held by American trial lawyers meeting in Canada.
These are predatory sharks giving Harry Reid tens of thousands of dollars and costing Americans jobs.
While Nevada families are suffering, Sen. Reid is jetting around the globe raising money. And while the senator is ripping Sharron Angle for her comments regarding a senator's responsibility for developing jobs, our state is seeing our already No. 1 unemployment rate increase. Talk about hypocrisy.
Maybe he should concentrate more on his job as opposed to grabbing some dough from our neighbors to the north.
Joseph Schillmoeller
Las Vegas
Unemployment plan
To the editor:
I don't think there is much disagreement that extensions should be provided to people on unemployment benefits -- up to a point. But after two years (99 weeks) I think they need an incentive to get back to work.
How about reducing their benefits 10 percent every three months? That might encourage some to either change professions or to relocate to a more worker friendly area. After two years I think it is too easy to sit back and wait for something to come up.
I'm surprised I haven't heard this proposal from someone, with all the finger pointing going on.
Richard Andes
Las Vegas
Furtive movement
To the editor:
Wednesday's Review Journal story on the police shooting of Trevon Cole produced some important facts ("Affidavit errors raise questions"). It is clear from those facts that some poor police work was done when a warrant was sworn out for the wrong man, and there is no excuse for a trained policeman to shoot an unarmed man who has his hands up.
The reason given for shooting Cole is that the man made a "furtive movement." We seem to be watching a cowboy movie where the Sheriff says, "Put up your hands! One false move and I'll plug ya'!"
Facts are important to this case, but they are also important because they change the public perception of the police. There are those who say that O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murder because the predominately black jury hated the police more than they hated black murderers. In Las Vegas there is a perception that our police are "trigger happy." There seems to be a wider held perception that when the police shoot someone, the cop always gets off the hook for it.
If the public cannot trust the police, who can they trust? The NRA says that's why we all need guns, but recently Eric Scott was killed by police outside a Costco because he did have a gun.
Civilization does not say we are all in this alone. Perceptions are not necessarily reality, but the public perception of the police is important to our safety. It is vital that significant moves be made in order to change those negative perceptions.
Jerry Bitts
Las Vegas
Recovery road
To the editor:
In a July 21 letter, Joe Marroso condemned economist Walter Williams for writing a column which criticized the New Deal and the Obama stimulus. Mr. Marrosso essentially stated that faulty economic views appearing in print can hurt public policy.
Ironically, Mr. Marroso then went on to provide readers with an ample supply of his own economic misunderstanding.
Mr. Marroso is operating on the assumption that Mr. Williams claimed the Great Depression was ended by World War II. However, Mr. Williams made no such claim. What he actually said is that it didn't end until after World War II. If spending -- be it on welfare, warfare or whatever else -- could create true, prosperity, then I challenge Mr. Marroso to spend everything in his bank account, max out a few hundred credit cards, and see where it gets him.
Real economic prosperity is driven by domestic production, which improves the quality of life for consumers. The Great Depression was ended when the economic central planning of the Hoover and FDR years was at least partly scaled back, and capital was able to be invested in production that helped the American people.
Nicholas Gausling
Las Vegas
