LETTERS: Public funds shouldn’t be used for stadium
Las Vegas is a center of capitalism, and it does not need a publicly funded stadium ("$1 billion stadium proposed," Friday Review-Journal). Using taxes on visitors supposedly makes it easy to get the tax approved. Shame on that concept.
Over 30 years, more than $2 billion in principal and interest would be paid from proposed tax revenues. That level of funding would better serve the new medical school, improving Clark County schools, helping low-income families, sustaining our fine road system or providing other tangible benefits to the county.
Forty-two percent of the Clark County population is either younger than 17 or older than 60, and there are 28,000 students at UNLV. These cross sections of our population could be better served with other directed spending. Citizens and leaders in Clark County need to stand up and tell local elected officials and developers that a publicly funded stadium is not needed in our fine county.
If an arena can be built through a private consortium here and a baseball stadium privately built in San Francisco, then a private group can build a multipurpose stadium. In that case, UNLV can provide a ground lease for 30 years and use the property in the future, when the pro teams move to another venue in another city, like teams have done previously in Oakland, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
John W. Reho
Henderson
Oregon standoff
In recent weeks, we have heard much about the standoff in Oregon. Doesn't the media realize that what this militia group wanted was publicity? The protesters claimed that they went to Oregon to support the Hammond family. They claim this family was treated wrong, and they wanted to correct the matter. But from the beginning, the Hammonds voiced that they had nothing to do with this group and did not want the group's support.
The people of Oregon and local Native American tribes also asked the protesters to leave. The federal government made a big mistake in letting them get away with the last incident in Bunkerville. These groups shouldn't get any more media coverage.
Miguel Reyes-Cuerva
Henderson
Obama’s 'regrets'
Oh, the hypocrisy! President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address, said he "regrets … that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better" during his tenure ("Obama extols virtues of US exceptionalism in final address," Jan. 13 Review-Journal). What, exactly, does he regret?
Does the president regret using reconciliation to pass Obamacare, the only way the legislation could pass, without even one Republican vote? That certainly contributed to rancor and suspicion. Does he regret using executive action regarding immigration? Initially, he admitted he did not have the power to change immigration law, that it was the job of Congress. Unwilling to engage in negotiations and compromise, he harnessed the power of executive action to achieve his ends. Resentment and distrust followed.
Does he regret signing the nuclear agreement with Iran, which few supported and soon will result in billions of dollars in Iran's coffers and eventually nuclear capability? Does he regret ignoring Iran's blatant actions against the U.S.? Does he regret ignoring Americans who are unjustly imprisoned in Iran? Ill will and distrust grow.
Does he regret his condescending attitude toward those with whom he disagrees? President Obama once characterized his opponents as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion. In the State of the Union address, he told climate change skeptics they will be "pretty lonely."
His attempt to connect with his audience by using the phrase, "My fellow Americans," rings hollow. He has never regarded us as equals. He regrets none of this. He regrets that Republicans and other right-leaning people are not lemmings, willing to blindly follow. He regrets that his opponents fail to see his superiority. Just wait for executive actions on gun control, minimum wage and further immigration "reform." After all, he has a phone and a pen. And let us not forget his legacy.
Jennifer Anderson
Henderson
