Mayor tap dances around firefighter pay issue

To the editor:

Regarding Alan Choate's article of July 21, "Mayor says contracts covered but has doubts":

I was thunderstruck that Mayor Oscar Goodman, aka the master of reconciliation, has chosen to tap dance right by another issue. Hey, good for you Mr. Mayor. This is no time to be concerned about the financial well being of our citizens. They are not unionized and can tough it out.

As the mayor commented about the firefighters: "I'm glad that we haven't gotten into a fight with them. I think they do a good job for us and I want them to be happy." How could they not be happy? Superior salaries, superior benefits, superior retirement and superior working conditions.

If keeping firefighters happy at the expense of all others is your goal, you have been very successful.

EDWARD R. DUFFY

LAS VEGAS

Government efficiency

To the editor:

Wow, what a great letter from Steve Brittingham (Aug. 6). It is so great to find out that the government can run things more efficiently than most businesses. After all, business needs to make money. Government doesn't make money, it just spends money taken from the taxpayers.

It's great to know that Social Security (going broke), Medicaid (going broke), the IRS (ever dealt with them?) are doing so well. These are all programs that are run by the truly efficient government. That's probably why the government doesn't need any more money. After all, didn't the government win the war on poverty?

Forrest A. Henry

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Going south

To the editor:

Must the Review-Journal add Oliver North to its stable of sneer-meisters? I'm referring to the likes of Ann Coulter and those propagandists from the Hoover Institute and Heritage Foundation.

Mr. North's recent commentary headlined "Democrats relent on care for injured vets" is disjointed and disgustingly unfair to the Obama administration. I would like to remind Mr. North that, after eight years of the Bush administration, the Veterans Administration was a shambles, along with our economy and our standing in the world. Fortunately, President Obama appointment Gen. Eric Shinseki to clean up the mess, the same Gen. Shinseki who -- after decades of valuable service to our country -- was the object of snotty comments by the previous administration.

In addition, Mr. North quotes a marine as saying, "Sure hope the crowd in Washington doesn't screw it (Afghanistan) up." Unfortunately it was screwed up in 2003 when President Bush, who was intent on cutting a bold and decisive figure, opted to open a second front against Iraq. The result: We've been in Afghanistan for eight years. That's twice as long as the Civil War.

Talk about incompetence. The bipartisan 9/11 commission issued a report saying the past administration misjudged the gravity of terrorist threats. For the details, read Richard Clarke's book on his repeated warnings to the administration about possible attacks.

Mr. North is correct when he says that many people think of his cronies in the Iran-Contra affair as "gun-toting, knife-wielding, overage adolescents." Or perhaps they fancied themselves to be dashing international 007s in their efforts to scuttle congressional mandates.

Secretary of State George Schultz under President Ronald Reagan was that rare animal, a conservative who understood the ins and outs of international geopolitics. He said the North group was "snookered by a bunch of rug merchants" for playing footsy with the Iranians.

ROLF GOETH

LAS VEGAS

Medicare grab

To the editor:

Why is the Republican party against Medicare? Why do they want to take it away from senior citizens? Most seniors depend on Medicare for their health care, but now the Republicans want to take it away from them and make them buy private insurance, which is much more expensive and which most seniors can't afford. The Republicans' vehement opposition to socialized medicine and single-payer insurance can only mean that if and when the Republicans gain control of Congress, they will immediately reform health care by ending Medicare. Then seniors will be forced to move to Canada in order to get any health care at all.

We must not let that happen. We must stop the Republicans now from taking Medicare away from seniors.

Richard Pratt

LAS VEGAS

Just the facts

To the editor:

In response to the Aug 6 letter from Randall Buie:

Mr. Buie states that "Republicans are ignoring nearly every poll that shows citizens want health care reform ... ." So let's see:

-- Quinnipiac poll: Three out of four Americans don't believe government-run health care will be deficit-neutral and 59 percent of Americans are against health care reform if the measure is supported by only the Democrats.

-- Gallup poll: Sixty-three percent say the president's plan will worsen their personal medical care.

-- National Public Radio poll: Forty-seven percent oppose Obama's plan and 42 percent support it.

-- New York Times/CBS poll: Seven-seven percent of Americans fear costs will increase under government-run health care.

-- Time poll: Fifty-six percent fear losing freedom to choose their own doctor/plan under government-run health care.

Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll: Forty-two percent say Barack Obama's plan is a "bad idea" vs. 36 percent saying it's a "good idea."

I may be naïve but when the level of opposition tops 50 percent -- as indicated in some of the polls -- health care foes seem to be widespread, coming from the right, the middle and even from the left.

In addition, a CNN poll conducted over the weekend indicated 71 percent of Americans say they are likely to attend a town hall meeting to tell their congressmen their opinion on health care. The Democratic National Committee and MSNBC have labeled these concerned citizens as "small mobs" and "rabid right-wingers." And according to Mr. Buie they are "being trained and bused in." I would certainly like the DNC, MSNBC and Mr. Buie to delineate their statements with proven facts. It will be difficult because in doing my research I could not find any data to substantiate those statements.

George Pucine

LAS VEGAS

Recycling hype

To the editor:

I read that only about 5 percent of Southern Nevadans actually recycle, whether through Republic Services or at local recycling centers. Well, I finally found out why this summer. I went up to Silver Dollar Recycling with three or four bags of plastic bottles and cans. After sorting and weighting it, I got a ticket and got to redeem it for a whopping 85 cents. No wonder Nevadans don't waste their time recycling.

There is no incentive for complicating our routines by sorting and separating our garbage and recyclables. I'm from the Bay Area and I know I could have gotten at least $20 for what I turned in there. I wonder if it's because they pay per pound and not per can, but you can go just about anywhere in California and they recycle.

With this whole "Go Green" movement, recycling should be through the roof. Republic Services and the city businesses should step up their game to get us to recycle, because I'm not believing the hype.

Alexis Thiiel

LAS VEGAS