MLK honored in Washington — and Vegas
To the editor:
This week, Washington, D.C., will finally memorialize Martin Luther King Jr. with a statue and wall inscriptions of his words.
For the record, Clark County accomplished its own memorial a decade ago with the development of a 12-foot bronze statue and shaded plaza at the corner of Carey Avenue and MLK Boulevard, on land donated by former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht, a Nevada conservative Republican. The statue and plaza were funded by private donations and federal Community Development Block Grant funds.
I would invite those who cannot make it to Washington, D.C., to visit Clark County's own memorial to Dr. King and to review and consider his words about love being more important than violence in changing human behavior and bringing lasting peace to a community and nation.
Douglas Bell
Las Vegas
Fund erosion
To the editor:
It looks as if we won't have to wait for the Republicans to wreck Social Security. Our current president is way ahead.
So far, he's trimmed 2 percentage points from the worker payroll tax. Now he's going to make the employers happy by decreasing their payroll tax share by an initial 2 percentage points.
Are people that stupid to not recognize what he's doing? The payroll tax is the only revenue source to the Social Security Trust Fund. When he is 100 percent successful in killing the cash flow to the Social Security fund, it's all over.
Clever, he's not. Dangerous, he is. This decision to decrease Social Security funding will erode the fund faster than any Republican's wildest dream.
Charles F. Carpenter
Henderson
Right thing
To the editor:
On Page 3B of Friday's Review-Journal is a perfect example of what is wrong with our government. It was reported that a bill sponsored by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., which would offer a tax break to veterans who travel a distance for medical treatment, is being revived. It would cost $71 million over 10 years and help rural Nevada vets.
Isn't this the same Sen. Dean Heller who voted against raising the debt ceiling?
I am not against anything to help our veterans, particularly Nevada vets. But if we are serious about reducing (or at least not increasing) government spending, bills to increase spending somewhere must include specific expenditure cuts elsewhere. Sen. Heller should include offsetting spending cuts in his bill.
Then let's see our politicians do the responsible thing rather than try to gain favor with some group by spending more.
Doug Fleckner
Las Vegas
School plan
To the editor:
As a "seasoned" educator who has taught pre-kindergarten through university levels, I would like to add my views on how to improve the Clark County School District.
1. Understand that effective teaching is the first step to learning.
2. Help our teachers become more effective by providing them with teaching innovations that promote effective learning for their students, especially in teaching reading.
3. Effectively train the trainers of teachers so that they will know how to train teachers.
4. Understand that each student learns at his/her own rate and cannot be in competition with the whole class. (The growth model supported by Superintendent Dwight Jones is the right direction).
5. Do not count on reorganization at the administration level as a cure-all.
6. All improvements in the district should be centered on the students, teachers and classrooms. The students are the ones who take the achievement tests.
7. We cannot blame most parents for their kids' failures. Some parents are too busy to help or they are reluctant to help because they feel that they don't know subject matter. Also, most parents feel that teachers are being paid to teach their children, thus, they rely on teachers to do so without their help.
8. If we are dissatisfied with the district's curriculum, we must provide concrete improvements that can be adopted by the district. Our words are just words, however, concrete ideas can bear fruits of better results.
Teddy B. Osantowski
Henderson
Job creation
To the editor:
Monday's Review-Journal article, "Companies shield data on overseas jobs," shocked my system when I read multinational corporations such as Apple, Pfizer, G.E., Proctor & Gamble, etc., have cut 2.9 million jobs in the United States and added 2.4 million jobs overseas between 2000 and 2009. All the while these companies are pushing lawmakers to cut their tax bills in the name of job creation in the United States.
What could be more ludicrous, disgraceful and unbearably sad for our American workers to hear?
Marlene Dallatore
Las Vegas
