Washington does just fine on infrastructure
To the editor:
In his Sunday opinion essay, the Cato Institutes's Chris Edwards railed against federal infrastructure spending. That's no surprise.
His piece, however, was so full of misinformation and innuendo that some response is needed.
Mr. Edwards says states and private industry do a better job. Yet he omits mention of the locally built Hell Hole Dam failure in California. He implies only federal blame for the San Joaquin's Kesterson Reservoir toxicity, which is directly tied not just to the federal government, but also to the California State Water Plan and myriad local irrigation districts.
The Yuma desalination plant fulfills an international treaty obligation with Mexico made necessary by the state-negotiated Colorado River Compact. Private toll roads in Virginia provide a mechanism whereby corporations can push costs onto the working class instead of contributing their share -- corporations don't pay tolls, commuting workers do.
Levee failure in New Orleans was primarily caused by decades-long lack of maintenance by local levee districts after turnover from the Army Corps of Engineers.
No, all projects aren't perfect, but Mr. Edwards' piece is misleading, if not just wrong.
Jim Daniel
Las Vegas
Cop lackey
To the editor:
In response to your Tuesday story, "District attorney retiring Jan. 3"):
Good news for Las Vegas. District Attorney David Roger was already working for the police union by turning a blind eye on all police shootings. Now the police union will have to pay for his services instead of getting them for free from the taxpayers.
Tom Lane
Las Vegas
Sour grapes
To the editor:
The Occupy Wall Street protestors who want to end capitalism and redistribute the wealth should give Karl Marx a second look.
Marx was a capitalist at heart. He lusted after money and envied the wealthy, but work was beneath him. In private he called the working class fools and idiots. He approved of slavery in America and thought blacks were inferior.
Sadly he let his own children starve while he mooched a fortune from Engels and squandered it on the stock market in several futile attempts to get rich quick.
However "The Great Economist" was destined to be poor, as Marx knew nothing about how to make money. His entire life was an economic failure. He promised to redistribute the wealth so he would not have to work for it. Marxism is a blatant example of sour grapes.
GLEN B. DUNNING
LAS VEGAS
Slow down
To the editor:
Put speed bumps at every crosswalk in the vicinity of a school zone. This will alert all the "legally blind" drivers who rely on the Braille system every time they get behind the wheel. Speed bumps will wake them up. I care less what the cost in taxpayer money will be.
HECTOR CALDERA
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Be safe
To the editor:
How many innocent children being struck down by negligent drivers or those under the influence will it take before we as a community wake up and realize that an automobile is a deadly weapon?
I walk my four dogs regularly on Torrey Pines near an elementary school. I can't begin to tell you how often drivers come racing down that street, not so much as pausing to consider there may be pedestrians or a stray animal in the street. And not all the blame goes to drivers.
Recently as I was driving home (we live across the street from the elementary school) a parent, jabbering away on her cell phone, let a small child get out of her vehicle and walk directly into traffic to cross the street. She was obviously paying no attention and had I not been going very slowly that child might have been injured or worse.
Wake up, everyone. Each life is precious and we don't get second chances to correct horrible decisions or negligence. Please, please slow down and let our children live.
Betty Mahalik
Las Vegas
Train plan
To the editor:
Paul Koshmerl's criticism (Oct. 29) of the latest completed step toward the DesertXpress and Sen. Harry Reid's part in the venture is well understood. We cannot ignore, however, the positive economic impart of the project.
There is the initial creation of jobs associated with the construction, the future operating staff, and the alleviation of traffic on the highways between California and Las Vegas. I hope that there would be an increase in visitors to Las Vegas -- and the revenue that could be realized -- as a result of the easier travel venue.
As the new sports arenas being considered by Las Vegas and Henderson come to fruition, a better means of bringing sports fans to the city should be adopted now. Our economy needs this future planning.
Mr. Koshmerl has lost credibility points with his Searchlight reference, a swipe at Sen. Reid. Furthermore, the reference to the Las Vegas Monorail and the DesertXpress is not comparative -- the rail is a local means of transportation, the Xpress serves a much greater populace.
I thank Mr. Koshmerl for his comments but, when looking at a broader picture, do not agree.
Michael D. Cohen
Henderson
