Cancel coal-fired plants, get higher power bills
To the editor:
I hope everyone is as angry as I am over these high electric bills. Our esteemed U.S. senator, Harry Reid, vows to fight against the three coal-fired plants they want to build in Nevada. But we need more energy sources now, not in 2020.
Wind will never do it, and we have plenty of coal in this country. We are even running low on sources for natural gas. So we need to act now or our electric bills will just keep rising.
Sen. Reid is also out to get you smokers again: He wants you to pay 50 cents more in taxes on each pack of cigarettes to pay for health insurance for children whose parents make more than $46,000 a year.
Seniors, you are going to pay for it also -- he wants to take money from the Medicare Advantage program, so your co-pays will go up and you will pay a lot more for prescription drugs. That will hurt all seniors who belong to Secure Horizons and Senior Dimensions, so that pretty well takes care of all of us in Nevada.
I urge all of you to call Sen. Reid's office and voice your opinions on more electrical power plants and the child health insurance act or we are going to pay, pay, pay.
SHARON MESKER
LAS VEGAS
Socialist platform
To the editor:
Sharon Stephens, who wrote Friday to propose her "presidential platform," may live in Vegas now, but she is clearly from La La Land. Let's pick apart her "platform" item by item, shall we?
1) She is correct. Five dollars an hour isn't livable pay. News flash: It wasn't meant to be. Why on earth does she or anyone think that a minimum wage is supposed to be "livable"? If people want $15 an hour, they should go to school and earn it.
2) Recovery centers instead of jail? Tell that to families who are victims of murder, the woman who was raped, the child who was molested, the hardworking businessman who was robbed at gunpoint. Ask them all if they think the poor dear bad guy should be in a "recovery center."
3) "Stop [drugs] from coming into this nation." Much as I agree with this, we are not winning the war on drugs. As long as drugs are illegal, they will continue "coming into this nation" and the only ones profiting from them will be the dealers. Why not make drugs as legal as alcohol? I hate the thought, but then maybe the billions we spend can go to Ms. Stephens' fantasy platform item No. 5.
4) While I agree a flat tax is the way to go, I have reservations about giving the IRS or any government entity blind control over my taxes. Social Security was supposed to be inviolate. It's 2007: Do you know where your FICA money is?
5) See No. 3 above. You want there to be "free education ... through two years of college"? Are you proposing we pay for your so-called "free education"? News flash: Education isn't free. Check the taxes you pay. How much of those taxes go to "under-funded" education? You think everyone should go to college? I disagree. Everyone should go to college who wants to and has earned it.
Yes, the rich are getting richer -- because they work smarter and harder than anyone. And thanks to them, countless thousands of people have jobs, homes and lives. Think Bill Gates, Steve Wynn, etc. I'm not sure about the poor getting poorer, but even they have the option of working harder and smarter and getting ahead.
Reality check time. We can't all live in La La Land.
JAN ASHMAN
LAS VEGAS
To the editor:
Reading the letter from Sharon Stephens, a schoolteacher in the Los Angeles system for 18 years and now a teacher in Las Vegas, really brought to light what is wrong with our school system in this country.
I am sorry, but I hope and pray she is not teaching social studies or civics in our public schools. I believe her liberal social agenda, aka the Karl Marx School of Education, belongs in Russia, not here.
Let's first give Ms. Stephens a lesson in business. I presently am a director for a corporation in this area. I pay my workers between $10 and $11 per hour. According to teacher Stephens, I should triple their salary and provide "homes for all." I can hear everyone laughing right now. Forget about the free home -- just a 10 percent pay raise and I'd soon have to close my doors. It is OK if I make a little profit, isn't it?
Ms. Stephens, did you hear about, or even read about, the doctor in Connecticut whose wife and daughter were set on fire to try and destroy the DNA while they were still alive by two repeat offenders that had rap sheets as long as your arm? They were let out on parole by one of your liberal friends who has the same mind-set as you do.
Tax reform? Wow, what an incentive Ms. Stephens would leave for business. Any money that I make over $250,000 would go to the IRS. Does Ms. Stephens have any idea who pays the bills in this country? It's the top 10 percent of the wage earners in this country who pay 67 percent of the taxes.
Final lesson: Nothing is free in this world. That includes universal health care for everyone. This is the greatest country in the world. Please don't destroy the minds in your charge with your liberal social agenda, Ms. Stephens. God help us.
ROBERT B. SULLIMAN JR.
HENDERSON
To the editor:
When I started reading Sharon Stephens' Aug. 10 letter, I chuckled, amused at what I was sure must be a humorous spoof of the views of a nutty left-wing extremist.
But as I continued, I realized the writer was serious and the Review-Journal had printed her ideas to expose the naive incomprehension of those unenlightened as to economic realities.
Her revelation that she is a schoolteacher in the "hood" was the final stunner. That one with such unsophisticated views is an educator helps explain the continuing problems of inner-city youth.
ERNIE MATHEWS
HENDERSON
Who's got the water?
To the editor:
I heard that the water level at the lake was way down, so I decided to go see for myself. The lake was as full as it has ever been. There was no distinguishable difference.
Oh, sorry, I'm talking about the "Lake Las Vegas Resort" lake. That one is just fine. It is surrounded by lush landscaping and green lawns. How funny it is that we don't allow anyone to build anything on the shores of Lake Mead, so they have to take Lake Mead's water to make a separate lake that wastes a huge amount of water each year just to keep the wealthy homeowners happy, looking at their fully filled lake.
EDWARD J. FINLEY
LAS VEGAS
Three-minute limit
To the editor:
One of the most aggravating aspects of teaching in Las Vegas is the local school district policy of "teacher on demand."
Each quarter after grade day and right before report cards come out, I am forced to waste hours -- literally hours -- of my precious, overbooked time dealing with parents whose children simply didn't bother doing their work. Several parents beg, cajole and threaten to "let so-and-so make up his missing work." They offer plenty of excuses for their child; they ask for free, private, after-school tutoring on your part; they threaten to call your supervisor if you refuse -- and often do so.
Depending on your administration, you may be coerced into upping a grade, or going against your own stated work policies for students, or worse. Must any other licensed professionals endure this degree of time waste by irrational customers or clients? Teachers need a way to say to this type of parent, "Enough."
So I would like to thank my School Board for indicating that I, too, will now be able to limit the parents who call or walk in to talk to me to three minutes to say what they have to say, as the board itself has done.
BETTY BUEHLER
LAS VEGAS
