Taxing state employee wages isn’t fair
To the editor:
Gov. Brian Sandoval claims to take a position against imposing state income taxes, but he is now trying to implement what is essentially a state income tax solely on state employees (Review-Journal, Jan. 13). Whether you call it a "tax" or a "pay cut," the result is the same.
State employees make significantly less than counterparts in city and county governments. State employees have already seen a huge reduction in health insurance benefits, an increase in premiums, frozen salaries, eliminated positions, etc., in addition to mandatory furloughs reducing pay by 4.6 percent.
Make no mistake, Gov. Sandoval is imposing a selective income tax on state employees, and they will be bearing the burden of the state's budget shortfall alone. Furloughs are an acceptable alternative, as they allow state workers to work somewhere else to compensate the loss of pay. What about 38-hour work weeks? What about four-day work weeks to save energy costs in the buildings?
Have we no other options here?
Mathew Callahan
North Las Vegas
Silly proposal
To the editor:
The proposal by state Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, is wrong and misguided ("Bill requires prescriptions for cold meds," Jan. 13 Review-Journal.) We need more freedom in our medical choices, not less.
The only significant effect of the proposed law will be an increase in health care costs for the average Nevadan. Is this what we want?
Ms. Leslie and other supporters say they have met with industry officials to "tamp down skepticism and win support." This must have been a real strenuous effort: "Hey, guys, we're going to pass a new law that will send more business into your offices and allow you drug companies to charge more for your product." I'll bet it took some real arm-twisting to get them to agree, kicking and screaming all the way to the bank.
This nonsensical law will not reduce the supply of methamphetamine. It will only make health care more costly and inconvenient for Nevadans and encourage the new breed of Al Capones south of the border to fill the void.
Nevadans: Reject this law and help maintain our freedoms.
Democrats, Please stay out of my medicine cabinet.
James Magnuson
Las Vegas
Gun laws
To the editor:
Roger Lowenstein is off his rocker. In his anti-gun screed ("No individual right to semi-automatic weapons") he states, "No one needs a semi-automatic weapon to fend off a prowler." Really? He must not read local papers or watch local news.
Home invasions happen every day, all around the country. If Mr. Lowenstein chooses to defend the lives of his family with a butter knife he packs under his pillow, well, I wish him well and question his devotion to their well-being.
As for me, I'll do so with my semi-automatic handgun, and I'll thank the framers of the Constitution for allowing me to do so.
More illogic, if not downright prevarication, follows from Mr. Lowenstein as he writes, "It's doubtful that the framers envisioned people possessing private weapons or taking weapons to their individual home." Apparently he knows history like he knows home invasions. At the time of our nation's founding, personal weapons in the home were extremely commonplace. In fact, the early fighting of the Revolution was done by citizen soldiers who carried their own hunting rifles and personal weapons into battle.
For Mr. Lowenstein to assert the framers could not have envisioned weapons in homes is flat-out foolishness.
Mike Richmond
Las Vegas
Got wet
To the editor:
What a glorious day to enjoy a public park. Martin Luther King's birthday saw spring-like weather in the 70s with lots of sunshine. I joined my daughter and granddaughter for an outing to Bruce Trent Park. Dozens of others already were there having picnics and using the playground equipment.
It was a perfect day to be outdoors -- right up until about noon, when the sprinklers turned on. Suddenly families were drenched, their barbecue fires dowsed, their picnics ruined.
Mercifully, the playground area was spared. But families enjoying a picnic outing using the park's great outdoor facilities were completely rained out. The man-made downpour lasted for at least two hours.
I'm sure the idiocy of turning on sprinklers during the park's peak daytime usage is obvious to most. But isn't there also a question here of water and irrigation management? I get frequent reminders in the mail that we live in a desert, and my watering hours have to be adjusted accordingly.
Does the city get similar advice? Aren't there more efficient times to water than high noon?
Robert R. Kessler
Las Vegas
Great deal
To the editor:
UNLV is the cornerstone of higher education in Southern Nevada. I find it difficult to believe that UNLV can afford to give a sweetheart deal to former Rep. Dina Titus ("Return of the reluctant professor," Sunday Review-Journal).
With the budget difficulties UNLV is facing, paying so much for so little makes no sense. Why does Ms. Titus get a golden parachute when so many students are getting fee increases and reduced academic options?
Where is the outrage?
Bob Wong
Las Vegas
