Letters to the editor – Monday (9-22-08)

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 19, 2008

GOP ticket looks strong to me
Beulah Davis (Sept. 16 letter) gave us some really good reasons not to vote for McCain/Palin in November. He’s too old and might die. His mind is bad since he can’t remember how many houses he owns. Sarah Palin is afraid of cats and is to blame for her daughter getting pregnant. Based on this, Ms. Davis votes for Obama.
That doesn’t quite do it for me. John McCain’s mother is an amazingly spry and active 96-year-old. She still regards John as her baby boy. Cindy McCain and her dependent children own eight properties. John McCain owns none. McCain’s memory is just fine. Governor Palin certainly wasn’t afraid to take on a corrupt political establishment within her own party and clean it up. She’s not afraid of guns and moose. She faces down hostile interviewers and makes fools of them. She’s brave enough for me. Ms. Davis’ comment about Palin’s pregnant daughter reminds me of Jesus’ reaction to Pharisees who came to him demanding that a woman caught in adultery be stoned to death. Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” None did. I presume Ms. Davis is sin-free and an all-seeing mother.
Senator Obama has a questionable real estate transaction with Tony Rezko, a convicted felon, which begs for an explanation. His past associations with a known terrorist and a known communist also have not been satisfactorily explained. Obama is the Senate’s most liberal member. He favors higher taxes, a weaker military and expensive socialist programs. Obama has demanded virtual surrender in the war on terror, support for secular humanism at the expense of Christian morals and values, and an unending toll of dead babies via abortion and partial birth abortion through liberal Supreme Court appointments. Obama promises change, all right. The problem is that it’s all bad.
ó Mike Safrit
China Grove
What you’ll get if McCain wins
What you can expect if McCain is elected:
If you want the blood of our youth and our hard-earned treasure to support wars chosen by neocons and radical fundamentalists, vote for McCain.
If you want the Iraq war and a future war with Iran to contribute to weakening the U.S. economy, vote for McCain.
If you want to lose Afghanistan to Bin Laden and the Taliban, vote for McCain.
If you think war is free, without longterm consequences, vote for McCain.
If you think that it is right for economic conscripts to put their lives in harm’s way, vote for McCain.
If you think oil and water can mix, vote for McCain.
If you want someone’s religion rammed down your throat, vote for McCain.
If you want 45 million Americans to live with no health insurance, vote for McCain.
If you want no regulation of financial institutions, weak monetary policy, and deficit financing, vote for McCain.
If you want the continued flight of American jobs overseas without their replacement at home, vote for McCain.
If you don’t want to pay taxes, don’t earn any money, and vote for McCain.
If this is what you want to conserve, vote for McCain.
ó Reginald W. Brown
Salisbury
Why not purchase sheriff’s cars here?I just read that “tucked away” in the proposal to purchase Dodges for sheriff’s cars was this little item ó to buy them from Idlerton Dodge in High Point. I wonder, how much tax dollars does Idlerton Dodge spend here in Rowan County? Do we not have a Dodge dealer here? I think so!
This is just another reason we here in Rowan County deserve better leadership. I hope that this November, people remember these boneheaded type moves and vote for complete change. Also remember it next vote cycle. Of course by then, they probably will give us more reasons!
ó Tim Mateer
Salisbury
Editor’s note: Suppliers of law-enforcement vehicles are chosen through competitive bidding.
Energy bill shows system is brokenThe energy bill passed by the U.S. House offers very few solutions to our nation’s energy crisis. But it did bring to light a crisis of another kind, that Washington is broken.
House members postured for or against the bill knowing that it likely will never pass the Senate and will certainly be vetoed by the president. When working families and rural communities buckle under the combined impact of high gas prices, high unemployment and limited credit availability due to the mortgage debacle, politicians in Washington waste time on do-nothing, go-nowhere legislation.
My congressman, Robin Hayes, voted for the bill and then immediately began talking about how bad it is. Mr. Hayes has a track record of casting votes he knows in advance to be bad, CAFTA foremost among them. Maybe if we, and a lot more districts in America, had a better congressman, we would get better legislation.
ó Al Powell
Concord
Taxpayers bear price of bailoutWhile Dan Patterson’s xxx letter discusses Galveston residents who refused to evacuate, it also applies to the current turmoil in the financial markets, as discussed by Professor Rogoff in his column on the same page.
Just as it took responsible individuals to rescue the Galveston residents who foolishly chose to stay in their homes that were in the path of Hurricane Ike, as Mr. Patterson noted in his letter, it’s likewise going to require money from responsible individuals to enable the federal government to cover the losses of companies in the financial services sector who made irresponsible decisions.
Don’t be fooled for one moment that the “government money” that the Uncle Sam is using to bail out Fannie Mae, AIG, and other troubled companies comes from a genie in a bottle that grants wishes. It doesn’t. It comes from you and me, the U.S. taxpayer, and it comes with a price.
The price is that sooner or later, all these bailouts are going to force us taxpayers over the edge financially even more so than we already are. This will leave us with even less to provide for ourselves and our families. When this happens, who is going to bail us out?
ó Stephen V. Gilmore
Charlotte
Pitching in to save Bank of America
Bank of America is more secure today! After paying my banking debt, I generously included a 50 percent bonus, mindful of today’s troubled financial times.
Having received a statement that I owed two cents, I rushed to the bank (knowing they must be desperate), dug into my savings and gave them three cents.
Feels great to be a financial savior!
ó Scott Mitchell
Salisbury