Government of, by, for complete control

To the editor:

I purchased an imported car (my fifth) solely due to the poor quality and high price of American cars. Now I likely will be forced to pay for an American junk heap that I won't be able to drive by virtue of the bailout.

American automakers sold 12 million cars last year and could not produce a profit. Now I am expected to supplement high union salaries under the economic threat of losing 3 million jobs.

If there is demand for the product Detroit builds, some other brand will fill the gap, creating new jobs. If there is no demand for the product, then government will be in control of production.

With the federal government taking a financial interest in banks and companies such as AIG, and Congress soon approving the Mandatory Union Membership Act (card-check elections), government will control the private economy.

Couple these dramatic shifts with socialized medicine (50 million new patients in an already burdened system), the takeover of private pension plans and potential windfall profits taxes on any business that dares to produce a profit, and the transition to socialism is complete.

I urge everyone to read "1984." It has become their handbook.

The government of the people, by the people and for the people will soon perish from the earth.

Jack Clark

HENDERSON

Saving union jobs

To the editor:

The proposed bailout of the Big Three automakers brings back fond memories of meetings I had with Teamsters union officials when I was vice president of a trucking company based in Oregon. Including pension and medical benefits, we were paying our union drivers 25 to 30 percent more than our nonunion competitors were paying their drivers. We were no longer competitive, and we were rapidly losing market share.

"Without your help," I told the union officials, "there will not be a single Teamsters driver left in this segment of the trucking industry."

The response from the union representative: "We don't give a damn about your company, but we will make sure the last Teamster driver is well-paid."

Our company was gone within a year, and the last Teamster driver in that segment of the trucking industry has disappeared as well. But at least he was well-paid.

I wonder how he likes driving for our nonunion competitor, with no medical or pension benefits at all?

Are the big wheels in the United Auto Workers union smarter than the Teamsters officials I dealt with? I hope so, but I keep picturing some UAW negotiator turning to a General Motors representative and saying, "We don't give a damn about your company, but we will make sure the last UAW worker is well-paid."

Michael Heath

LAS VEGAS

Getting bills paid

To the editor:

I just read the news about University Medical Center reducing services.

The purpose of taxpayer-supported public hospitals is provide care to any who do not have the funds to obtain it themselves.

In Santa Clara County, Calif., as soon as you were admitted to the county hospital, a lien was placed until the debt could be paid. This worked well and provided all the indigent and poor adequate medical treatment.

This information should be provided to UMC management and county commissioners so they can ensure that the basic concept of the taxpayer-supported general hospital is properly applied.

Charles R. Durden

LAS VEGAS

Bygones?

To the editor:

In Tuesday's Review-Journal article, "Reid calls for congressional cooperation," Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said, "Let bygones be bygones."

Is he kidding? Now he wants to forgive and forget? What do conservatives need to be forgiven for? We didn't talk worse about the president than we did about terrorists. Sen. Reid did.

George W. Bush was president for six months before Democrats finally stopped calling him Mr. Bush and starting calling him Mr. President. He was never given any respect by Sen. Reid, and he blamed the president for everything from Hurricane Katrina to the Fannie Mae crisis, which he had nothing to do with, either.

Sen. Reid himself went to schools and called President Bush names and talked about him as though he were a fly on America's nose. And we wonder why children do not respect authority -- what a great example.

Not only did Sen. Reid and his caucus not cooperate, they were a nemesis. If Sen. Reid were a true American, he and his ilk would step down in shame. Not that he would ever do the right thing.

If nothing else, America has not been attacked since 9/11, and President Bush has never, not even once, been given any praise for that. That is an amazing accomplishment.

So, Mr. Reid, I hope and pray that you get 100 times the cooperation you gave. But remember this: Any number times zero still amounts to nothing -- which is what your Senate career has amounted to.

Jim Blockey

LAS VEGAS