In Nevada, good old boys are still in charge

To the editor:

The recent articles about the awarding of "green jobs" and County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly describe an outrageous expenditure of our money.

The bureaucrats at the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation should be fired.

Why was $120,000 spent on a training coordinator? Why was 30 percent -- or $36,000 -- paid to that "small out of work" company Manpower to find Mr. Weekly? Who was the other coordinator?

Why do we need coordinators, anyway? When job fairs are announced, people line up to get the jobs.

This is just another example of government waste. And an example of how the stimulus package will mainly go to the politically connected for "training," not for jobs for the unemployed.

I challenge Gov. Jim Gibbons to take some action to prevent future ridiculous expenditures like this, when Nevada has an $800 million budget deficit.

If this was in a Third World country, we would cry corruption. But this is Nevada and the good old boys are still in charge.

David Maredith

HENDERSON

Eyes have it

To the editor:

In case you don't have $245 to $495 to spend on "perfect" sunglasses (Xazmin Garza, "How to choose the perfect sunglasses," May 28 Review-Journal), I have come up with my own guide.

Step 1: Visit your nearest dollar store.

Step 2: Locate the sunglasses carousel.

Step 3: Find a pair of sunglasses that fit, have the desired darkness, and don' look like you just stepped out of 1974.

Step 4: Leave your $1.07 on the counter on your way out.

Now while I imagine there are plenty of Las Vegas residents who enjoy the thrill of buying $400 sunglasses, I will bet there are a whole lot more of us who aren't that certifiably insane.

And though I'm sure I'll never end up on a magazine cover, TMZ video, or Perez Hilton blog, at least I know I'll be able to keep the sun out of my eyes and be able to make my truck payment.

Alex Viaggio

LAS VEGAS

Liquor laws

To the editor:

Assembly Bill 378 is sitting on the governor's desk. This bill does a great deal for alcohol wholesalers but would punish consumers. It eliminates competition and adds costs to an industry already hurting. This is going to impact jobs and revenues.

The FTC has said that these types of proposals harm consumers who will likely have to pay higher prices.

Laws protecting Nevada wholesalers are already in place and this bill would just add another layer of state intervention into private commercial contracts dictating business terms that only benefit wholesalers. When the Nevada hospitality industry is struggling, certainly now is not the time to trade in free enterprise.

I think this measure handicaps the hospitality industry and is generally a bad idea.

Frankie Sue Del Papa

RENO

THE WRITER IS A FORMER NEVADA STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Green energy

To the editor:

President Barack Obama's visit to the solar array at Nellis Air Force Base highlights Nevada's role as the leader in the coming clean energy revolution.

As the president said, Americans come to Las Vegas for the sights and the sounds and now they will come too for the power of the sun. President Obama knows Nevada offers not only abundant renewable energy resources, but also the workers to fill the many jobs that aggressive development of those resources will create.

The people of Nevada are ready to get to work. This president, working with Congress, is investing now in jobs that will make Nevada competitive.

The solar power plant at Nellis and other clean energy projects across the state show that Nevada's path to a full and sustainable recovery includes diversifying our economy into renewable energy technology. The economic recovery package will soon create jobs as more and more clean energy projects come online. Hundreds of millions of dollars in recovery funding are flowing to Nevada, creating jobs where they are so desperately needed. Clean energy jobs are Nevada jobs -- they can never be outsourced.

We are fortunate to have a leader in President Obama who understands the vast potential for clean energy leadership that Nevada possesses.

Our state and its people will be out in front on renewable energy.

I am working to ensure the energy generated in Nevada can be transmitted from the rural places where geothermal, solar, and wind resources are to the big cities and other states that need it. With the right investments and policies, Nevada can and should be the leading producer and net exporter of clean power.

The president knows clean energy is an investment in our environment, an investment in our economy, and an investment in our energy independence and national security.

He knows as I do the challenges that lie ahead. Working together, we will keep Nevada on the front lines of this transformative industry that strengthens our state and our nation.

Sen. Harry Reid

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE WRITER, A DEMOCRAT FROM NEVADA, IS SENATE MAJORITY LEADER.

The children

To the editor:

The recent letter from Donna West, calling it ridiculous for Gov. Jim Gibbons' to try to cap the Nevada Check Up plan for low-income children, gives me pause every time I read this liberal bleeding heart blather. I really wonder how many of these 23,000 to 32,000 children are just in "temporary need"? Doesn't Ms. West realize that these types of plans were designed to merely be a "safety net" for those in sudden need of assistance -- much like welfare and food stamps? All of these programs were designed to be for "temporary assistance," not a way of life.

But because so many people decide to shirk their own responsibility in taking care of their financial problems, children, etc., they expect the government to do it for them -- and have no qualms at all. After all, they can't afford it. Period.

So why is that my responsibility? Does everyone realize that when they make the conscious decision to have children they should be responsible for all of that child's care until his is grown? That includes, but is not limited to food, clothing, shelter and, yes, medical insurance.

Our government's entitlement programs have vastly become a way of support for those who choose not to take care of themselves or their offspring. Compassionate forms of temporary assistance have been so overly abused that it is a sickening decay on this society -- and nobody cares.

I personally know of several families who continue to manipulate the system so their children have this "temporary" health care.

If placing caps on programs such as the Nevada Check Up eventually makes people become more independent, then it needs to be done.

Cherie S. Wood

LAS VEGAS