Does rich actress get a special tax bracket?
To the editor:
I see that actress Natalie Portman (another of the Obama Hollywood elite) was in town preaching the wonder and awe of our beloved president (Sunday Review-Journal).
Since Ms. Portman and her peers typically earn millions of dollars for their work, how is it that they're not considered in the same "1 percent" group as wealthy Republicans? You know, a group to be vilified for their abuse of the common man?
Is there some sort of presidential side deal that protects their images while soiling those of other wealthy Americans? Probably because they're so patriotic. You know, like actor George Clooney, working hard to ensure President Obama gets another term as president - from the safety of his Italian villa.
Are the accountants of the Hollywood elite going to use different rules when computing their clients' income taxes, or the same rules the rest of wealthy America uses?
I'm guessing the rules for income tax filing are the same for everyone, regardless of party affiliation.
Michael Plourde
Las Vegas
We don't make anything
To the editor:
The most important story in Saturday's Review-Journal, in my opinion, was at the bottom of Page 2D in the Business section, headlined "Key measure shows manufacturing 'very weak.' "
This is serious stuff, folks. In 2009, more than 1 billion cellphones were produced, not one made in America. How many "Made in the USA" TVs and other electronic items can you find? How about a shirt or pair of shoes?
Once the world's biggest producer, we have become a nation of paper pushers. Less than 10 percent of citizens currently employed are in manufacturing. You cannot get out of economic difficulties by pushing paper. If we don't start making things the world wants to buy, we are in deep trouble.
Production equals prosperity.
Bruce Feher
Las Vegas
Lazy generation
To the editor:
I couldn't disagree more with the Sunday commentary, "No business as usual." Writer Emily Matchar is out of touch with the atmosphere of the current workforce and the Generation Y "Millennials," who want more flexibility and work-life balance.
I am a baby boomer who works with this Generation Y. I complete all their work because they are too lazy to work. All they care about is getting paid without being productive. I find them rude and uncaring and, yes, entitled.
Unfortunately, this is our workplace future.
Teresa santora
Las Vegas
Politics of extreme
To the editor:
Remember when Sen. Harry Reid ran for re-election against Sharron Angle a couple of years ago? Sen. Reid's campaign consisted solely of calling any kind of plan or solution to a problem facing America that Ms. Angle dared to put forth "extreme."
Now I see in Sunday's Review-Journal that President Barack Obama is calling Mitt Romney "extreme." Having no plan or any kind of solution to any of the problems we are mired in, he has ripped a page right out of Sen. Reid's campaign playbook.
What the Democrats have to show for the last four years of their leadership is that every number that should be up is down, and every number that should be down is up, and they have absolutely no plan or solution. Now that's extreme!
FRANK W. THOMPSON
Henderson
Bring back DARE
To the editor:
Junior League of Las Vegas, a women's volunteer organization dedicated to improving our community, started the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program with the police in 1986. This highly acclaimed program gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence.
On Aug. 20, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie abruptly cancelled the DARE program in our community. Millions of schoolchildren around the world benefit from DARE each year, and now Southern Nevada will be a loser in the fight against drugs and violence.
Several years ago, when DARE was in financial trouble, many of the Junior League's sustaining members bought supplies to help keep the program alive. Our members have attended many DARE graduations and have seen how excited our local fifth-graders are about this program.
As supporters of Las Vegas children, we ask the entire Las Vegas community to please tell Sheriff Gillespie of your disappointment in cutting this very important youth program.
Britta Carlson
Las Vegas
The writer is president of Junior League of Las Vegas.
Whacked
To the editor:
As the GOP convention unfolds, look for Republicans to conduct Mission Impossible: disavowing any knowledge of Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., without alienating the Tea Party contingent that made an episode like this inevitable. The leadership's frantic effort to distance themselves from their Missouri U.S. Senate candidate seems less like a church excommunication for heresy than a Mob "whacking" for violating omerta.
Lonny Zarowitz
Las Vegas
When it rains ...
To the editor:
Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., made a humorous comment about dark clouds arriving in Las Vegas when President Obama came here last week. What humorous comment did he offer about Tropical Storm Isaac greeting the Republican National Convention in Tampa?
James Hall
Las Vegas
