How about some national referenda?

To the editor:

Since the national election is only eight months away, why not have a national referendum on the top seven issues that Congress is fighting over, including health care reform, cap and trade, etc.? If this would be done, one could truly say that the will of the people was served.

If a national referendum were part of the election, I submit that the percentage of citizens voting would probably be the highest of any election in the history of the United States.

Of course, the framers of the Constitution did not envision national referendums in their idea of a representative form of government. But what the heck. Most of the federal judges appointed by Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama don't give a damn about the Constitution anyway, so why not take it a step farther?

VERLON BERKMEYER

NORTH LAS VEGAS

City service

To the editor:

The dividing wall of my home was the recent recipient of some unwanted graffiti. Aside from the obvious inconvenience, I figured I would have to spend a good portion of the next day on the phone with several individuals employed by the city of Las Vegas. I called the Neighborhood Services Department.

A pleasant woman answered the phone and I told her what had happened. She asked for my address and said they would send someone out. Caught off guard, I asked if that was all. I was actually the one lengthening the process.

She assured me that was all she needed. Within two days the wall was cleaned and painted over. Kudos to the city.

RON SLOCUM

LAS VEGAS

GOP outlook

To the editor:

I've repeatedly heard that the Republican political philosophy -- fiscal responsibility, smaller government and unrestricted free markets -- should be the panacea of all fiscal and social problems in our country. Please help me understand this and correct me if I'm wrong.

-- Fiscal responsibility. It's my understanding that every president, from Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter, reduced the national debt (as a percent of gross domestic product). Only three presidents since World War II have increased that national debt: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Dwight Eisenhower was the last Republican to preside over a balanced federal budget. Since then (50 years), only Lyndon Johnson (1969) and Bill Clinton ('98 through '01) have presided over balanced budgets.

-- Smaller government. It's also my understanding that since 1981, the administrations of Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 combined reduced the size of the federal government by .04 percent (government employees per thousand population). The Clinton administration alone reduced the overall size of the federal government, using that same measure, in the amount of .34 percent.

-- Unrestricted free markets. It is also my observation that the two most devastating financial meltdowns in the history of our nation occurred after eight consecutive years of systematic "reform" by Republican-sponsored legislation over several administrations, most notably the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. The Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, initiating government "suggested" clean water regulations. The timber industry needed "encouragement" toward reforestation and "advisements" against clear-cutting entire mountains. The mining industry had to be "urged" to not release cyanide into streams and reclaim the land when they were done. To this day, emissions into our atmosphere are still a matter of denial.

Someone please provide me an example of a for-profit industry, left to its own devices, that has never warranted government intervention. Is there even one industry, unregulated, that has not left in its wake some form of ecological, financial or social hardship? Until then, I have to consider deregulation as a deeply flawed policy.

Aside from that issue, are the Republicans content to allow Democrats to show them how to implement the rest of their principles? Or is it just me?

RICK REYNOLDS

LAS VEGAS

Greedy union

To the editor:

I am confused. Who did the people of Nevada vote for to run this state? Our officials in Carson City or the leaders of the teachers union? I know it's for the children -- the children of the teachers. They clearly don't care about the children of those whose income they are trying to diminish through massive taxation.

This budget issue has nothing to do with education quality. It's all about greed.

HANS BOHN

LAS VEGAS

Protect us

To the editor:

If Toyota built airplanes, the U.S. government would have grounded every one of them long before now. Who is protecting the folks worried about the car behind us?

RICK SMITH

LAS VEGAS

Heartless GOP

To the editor:

To the thousands of workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own, check out what heartless people the Republicans are. One GOP senator held up extended benefits for thousands of workers depending on them.

I suggest that none of us vote for any Republican in the next election, including Sue Lowden, who is against government bailouts while the common person has to suffer. If not for the bailouts, we most likely would have had a depression, as in the 1930s.

So, Republicans, take notice. While we don't like everything the Democrats stand for, at least they are not the heartless bastards that you are.

Barry Bashist

Las vegas