LETTERS: ‘Vital’ defense personnel not so vital

To the editor:

So civilian workers at Nellis Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base are back on the job (“Nellis, Creech workers return,” Tuesday Review-Journal). And of course, all of them are vital to our defense. At least that’s what the Obama administration is saying.

How in the world are the following facilities vital to our defense: lodging, arts and crafts, outdoor recreation, the community center, the golf course and the child development center? Maybe the golf course is open so that President Barack Obama can play on it. Is this what the president and Nevada Sen. Harry Reid want to spend my taxes on? Give me a break.

DAVID MEREDITH

HENDERSON

Boehner right

To the editor:

God bless House Speaker John Boehner. He’s absolutely correct. Fifty-five years of deficit spending must come to an end. There is no better time for that to happen than right here and right now. Will the government default? Only if President Barack Obama wants it to default. It’s the president’s decision. The buck still stops at his desk.

GORDON BLUGIS

HENDERSON

One percent calls the shots

To the editor:

Years ago when I lived back east, I was at my local bar crying about taxes and a few other problems in my home town. A friend said that I should instead become a town meeting member and that there was an opening in my district.

I went to my neighbors, got the required signatures and became a member. For six years, I never missed a meeting and always voted for the good of the people in my home town. One thing that always bothered me was the message sent by town meeting members who were also business owners. They wouldn’t show up to be counted if an article up for a vote was not to their liking. On close votes, this was a real problem.

I believe this is a big problem we face with our two-party system. The 1 percent calling the shots through their lobbyists, who are beholden to the few in the upper 1 percent. How do we break this cycle? Your guess is as good as mine.

This situation is also going on in other countries. Over the centuries, revolution has solved this problem. Let us hope when and if such a revolution comes to America, it’s a peaceful event, not like what we’ve seen in the Middle East.

JOHN TOMINSKY

LAS VEGAS

Parks shutdown

To the editor:

The National Park Service has closed down several national monuments in Washington D.C., including the World War II, Vietnam and Korean war memorials, along with the Lincoln Memorial. However, the park service decided to allow an immigration rally to take place last week, even though the site on the National Mall was closed due to the government shutdown. Susana Flores, a spokesperson for the rally, stated that the event was allowed under the group’s First Amendment rights.

While I’m glad that the rally took place, it makes me wonder why 90-year-old World War II veterans and their families, and the veterans of other wars, initially weren’t granted those same rights to visit the memorials dedicated to the men and women who fought for this country. What is wrong with this picture? I hope everyone will call their elected representatives and President Barack Obama and demand that our memorials dedicated to the men and women who kept this nation free be fully opened. After all, they were the ones who kept us free and preserved our Constitution.

MICHAEL O. KREPS

LAS VEGAS