Traffic cameras a tax-and-spend fix
To the editor:
Help me out here. I'm a little confused as to what Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick really stands for.
In his Sunday column, he rails against the "tax-and-spend mush-heads who advocate raising taxes across the board so runaway government spending can make us a 'better community.' " Then, in the very same column, he advocates that Las Vegas do something about our anything-goes roadway culture by spending money on traffic cameras because he doesn't like people passing him on his way to work.
I would just like to know whose taxes Mr. Frederick would like to raise to pay for these cameras? It would be helpful to know this so that when we ask the Legislature in 2009 to change the law to allow the use of cameras, we can also ask for a tax increase to pay for them.
Way to go, Sherm. Welcome to the Tax-and-Spend Mush-Head Club.
Richard Pratt
HENDERSON
Another Vietnam
To the editor:
Oh, my. It's déjá vu all over again.
Then: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by Congress because we were "attacked" by North Vietnam. It didn't happen. Quagmire ensues.
Now: Bush-enabling resolution passed by Congress because of "imminent danger" to us from Iraqi WMDs. They weren't there. Quagmire ensues.
Then: Gen. William Westmoreland comes up with new and improved body counts. We are encouraged. Quagmire deepens.
Now: Gen. David Petraeus comes up with new and improved security status. We are encouraged. Quagmire deepens.
Then: Congress, after threatening to impeach President Nixon and running him off, finally gets the guts to cut war funding. A nightmarish misadventure comes to an end.
Now: Congress, after threatening to impeach President Bush ...
Well, we can dream, can't we?
Bob Hannah
HENDERSON
Political smoke
To the editor:
Because humans are responsible for global warming and the impending doom of the polar bears, I'm wondering what we can do to offset the impact of the Southern California wildfire that sent huge clouds of smoke over Las Vegas.
Perhaps we should take control of the situation and park our SUVs for the next six months to make up for the carbon dioxide pouring into the atmosphere from the fire. I plan to cook my steak in a pan tonight, rather than to fire up the grill, so as to reduce my carbon footprint. I hope everyone does the same. And if you happen to be a smoker, I recommend that you do that inside as well.
After what I saw blowing over our valley this weekend, I can't imagine how insensitive I was to think that Sen. Harry Reid was just blowing smoke again when he railed against new coal-fired generating plants with state-of-the-art emission controls to be constructed in Nevada.
No, all kidding aside, I like polar bears, but if you can't see how insignificant mankind's contribution to cyclical climate change is when compared to that of nature, you have been the recipient of too much political smoke.
Bill Dirkse
LAS VEGAS
Important donations
To the editor:
The story in Sunday's Review-Journal on Chancellor Jim Rogers' financial donations was informative, but it left out another important area of his giving history that reveals much about his values.
Two years ago, he pledged $250,000 to an endowment campaign for the major higher education organization supportive of academic freedom, the American Association of University Professors, which is the parent organization for the Nevada Faculty Alliance. His pledge was to match up to 10 other gifts of $25,000 each to this campaign, which will mean that $500,000 will eventually be contributed because of Mr. Rogers' actions.
Chancellor Rogers also funded a national conference on academic freedom at UNLV's Boyd Law School two years ago that brought many higher education leaders from around the country to UNLV.
Faculty in Nevada and elsewhere are grateful to Jim Rogers for this strong support of the values that have helped make American higher education the strongest in the world.
Jim Richardson
RENO
THE WRITER IS A PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND JUDICIAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE NEVADA FACULTY ALLIANCE.
