Don’t be fooled — Reid isn’t a defender of Nevada

To the editor:

I opened my Thursday Review-Journal and saw the cartoonish illustration of Sen. Harry Reid, drawn as a bill fighting the Capitol, and I thought to myself, what a farce ("Reid swings back").

On Feb. 9, President Obama damned Las Vegas as a destination for businesses that received bailout funds for what he perceived as lavish conventions and meetings. In reality, he damned Las Vegas and thus Nevada in general for no good reason.

During last year's campaign, it seemed like Mr. Obama was in Las Vegas and Nevada virtually every time you read the news, exploiting the citizenry to get their votes. Now, all of a sudden, Sen. Reid crawls out of his hole, introducing a bill to prevent bureaucrats from prohibiting travel to cities perceived as resort destinations.

Since Feb. 9, only one of Nevada's representatives has taken the floor to stand up to Mr. Obama and dispute his damnation of Las Vegas. It was not Sen. Reid, who at his advanced age and his being a careerist in Congress, is attempting to mislead the voters into thinking he is battling his own power base on behalf of Nevada.

On Feb. 9, when President Obama damned Las Vegas and thus Nevada, Sen. Reid should have stood up and corrected him. He did not.

This coming year, the voters are not going to be fooled again, especially with our massive job losses and the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, you are out!

Sen. Reid will be ousted in next year's general election. The voters are wise and have quit drinking the Kool-Aid.

Jeff Durbin

LAS VEGAS

What savings?

To the editor:

Maybe I missed something in Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell's comments ("Union votes to ratify contract," Thursday Review-Journal), but if the city's firemen are giving up $1.5 million in pay raises in return for a $1.75 million increase in city contributions to their benefits, how does the city save money?

You can't add an increase in compensation of $1.75 million and a decrease of $1.5 million and get to $3.2 million. Even with new math.

I hope the City Council is better at math than the city manager.

I don't have much faith in either.

Frank Walker

LAS VEGAS