Lunacy reigns
in Washington
The lunatics are running the asylum, folks ó we have to take it back.
Don’t misunderstand. I’m well aware problems didn’t just start, and my disgust crosses party lines. However, the degree of hypocrisy, deceit, incompetence and narcissism that is going on in our beloved nation’s capital is enough to make any taxpayer’s head explode. The current economic situation is giving those in Washington who want to control our lives an excuse to ram through deplorable legislation that will replace freedom with fear, initiative with inertia and capitalism with communism. I don’t use that term lightly. Look it up, then look at what’s happening.
I beg everyone not to be sidetracked by the feigned outrage at AIG bonuses; that was a carefully orchestrated distraction. Wrong, but intentionally written into legislation by the same posturing politicians who are now trying to tax it at 90 percent! This is unconstitutional and terrifying. Who will they tax next? What other constitutional rights will vanish? Freedom of speech, right to a secret ballot, right to bear arms, freedom of religion ó they’re all in jeopardy now. It’s ironic that Congress is “outraged” that AIG bonuses are being paid to the very people partially responsible for this mess. Fannie and Freddie (remember them?) are also receiving bonuses. And Congress gets an automatic pay raise every year unless lawmakers reject it ó which they did not. They are deserving? Do we hear about these injustices?
I ask everyone ó look up Pelosi’s fawning speech to illegal aliens, Dodd’s bold-faced lies, Frank’s and Schumer’s dictatorial attitudes and Rahm Emanuel’s frightening strategies.
President Obama: Please stop campaigning and having parties, forget the NCAA tournament, stop simply reading from your teleprompter and start listening to our nation’s people. Government is not the solution.
Some suggestions, America: Congressional audits, impeachments, term limits and prayer.
ó Julie Blalock
Salisbury
Take deeper look at AIG bonuses
Americans’ rage at AIG is misdirected
I understand the outrage of the American public regarding AIG and other bailouts. Unfortunately, what the media forgets to explain is what said bonuses are for. They are retention bonuses for people to stay and “unwind” positions in a safe manner, as to not damage the economy further.
These are contracts that were made to employees. There was even protection added by Senator Dodd ( who also, by the way, has received campaign money from AIG) to the stimulus bill passed by Democrats and signed by Obama. I don’t hear any of them saying they are sorry for allowing the bonuses. Nor have I heard of anyone in D.C. offering to return donations made by AIG or any other TARP recipients.
Now, due to the outrage, the “Keystone Cops” of D.C. are having knee-jerk reactions to the public outcries and spending time on the $165 million, instead of the big picture of the $1.6 trillion deficit for 2009.
America, Your rage needs to be directed at your government officials, not the people at AIG.
ó Scott Wigginton
China Grove
Don’t blame CRA for this crisis
Tim Byrd’s Tuesday letter continued the false claims by some conservatives, blaming poor mortgage lending on the Community Reinvestment Act. This is simply not true and never has been. The CRA was written to prohibit the racist practice of red-lining black communities by refusing to lend to qualified black borrowers seeking to buy homes in these neighborhoods. (White landlords didn’t have any problems!) It required banks to offer mortgages and other loans in the same neighborhoods from which they drew deposits. There was no requirement to make bad loans; in fact, the problem was that banks were consistently refusing to make good loans, based solely on race.
The real cause of the sub-prime crisis is a combination of lax or non-existent regulatory supervision of banks, combined with the growth of non-bank mortgage lenders, like Golden West and Countrywide. That rested with the Bush Administration, which generally opposed any regulations and weakened them anywhere it could.
As for Mr. Byrd’s complaint about the mergers of commercial and investment banks, he is correct in that this has proven to be a disaster. He doesn’t mention that the Graham-Rudman Act in the early 1980s was the cause. Senators Graham and Rudman continue to be stalwarts of the Republican Party’s conservative wing! They and their fellow conservatives were wrong in repealing the Glass-Segal Act from the 1930s, which banned mixing risk-taking investment banks with conservative commercial banks. Now we are seeing the end result of their mistakes.
It’s taken years for the leaders of the financial system, including both bankers and Wall Street, to get us into this mess, and it’s going to take more than a few weeks to get out. Problems this big and this entrenched don’t lend themselves to “silver bullets” or other quick fixes.
ó John P. Burke
Salisbury
Threats to religion vastly overstated
I would like to address the March 16 letter titled “The conscience rule and religious freedom,” along with similar messages broadcast lately.
Our culture anti-Christian? America, along with India, is the most religion-obsessed society on Earth. Both, incidentally, also have some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
I recently heard televangelist Garland Faw say on one of his radio broadcasts how fine it was that Christians had a say at a recent meeting of the Board of Commissioners ó as if that had not been allowed before.
Christians have had their say for centuries and still do. Carl Ford, Faw’s son-in-law, is head of the county commission. “In God We Trust” is on the front of the county government building on Innes Street. Christian prayer is held before the meetings of local governments all over the country. No atheist could probably be elected to any high office in this country, no matter how qualified or morally upright. In fact, many state constitutions still forbid atheists from running for state offices. Some high schools still have pregame prayers, legal or not. Millionaire preachers enjoy tax-free incomes.
At the meeting of the commissioners (on the gay-marriage resolution), some speakers said separation of church and state is unconstitutional. Carl Ford later said on his radio program that the state cannot interfere with the church.
Fine ó let’s permit theologians to have their own private armies, navies, police forces, law courts, prisons and asylums. Let’s virtually make them above secular law, like the priests of ancient Egypt.
As for “conscience,” in 1992 the Florida Supreme Court overturned the 1986 third-degree murder conviction of a Pensacola couple. Their child died because they did not seek medical attention for her diabetes, relying solely on prayer instead.
The mayor of Lake City, Fla., where such crimes have also happened, commented, “It may be necessary for some babies to died to maintain our religious freedoms.”
ó R. Howard Andrews
Kannapolis
Nation doesn’t need this gun-control bill
Bobby Rush, an Illinois congressman, introduced a bill, H.R. 2666 into Congress in 2007. It had several co-sponsors. This bill was Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2007 and would establish a federal gun license and registry program. No further action was taken.
Again this year, the same Bobby Rush has introduced another bill, H.R. 45. So far, there are no co-sponsors. This bill is Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record Sale Act of 2009. H.R. 45 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary (Jan. 6, 2009). On Feb. 9, 2009, H.R. 45 was referred to a subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
If this bill is passed, that action has the potential to draw everyday law-abiding Americans into the criminal world. People not abiding by this law are subject to jail time and could lose their homes and property. Only exempt people would benefit.
To those concerned, please read the bill and contact all our representatives.
ó Irene Dalton
Salisbury
Smoke-free measure would save lives
For too long, non-smoking North Carolinians have been getting sick, or have lost their lives, from other people’s cigarette smoke. A bill being considered in the N.C. legislature would save lives by prohibiting smoking inside public buildings and workplaces.
The smoke-free workplace legislation (HB2) is about public health and workplace safety. We have numerous laws designed to protect employees and the public, such as health codes to ensure restaurant kitchens are free from dangerous bacteria, or laws requiring employers to provide property safety equipment to heavy machinery operators.
Yet we still allow the biggest health hazard of all to go unchecked. Cancer-causing smoke fills thousands of workplaces across the state. Just last year, it killed 1,600 non-smokers.
Smoke-free workplace legislation will not only provide safe air for nonsmokers; it will make it easier for smokers trying to quit. But given the difficulty of breaking a nicotine addiction, we also must provide smokers with the tools they need to quit, including quitting aids, cessation counseling and prescription drug therapies.
Lowering the smoking rate and ensuring clean indoor air at workplaces will save North Carolinians millions by lessening the huge health-care-cost burden from smoking-related illnesses. The smoke-free workplace bill will lead to a healthier and more fiscally sound North Carolina.
ó Deborah Bryan
Raleigh
Deborah Bryan is the N.C. state executive for the American Lung Association.
Another dog tale: Passing the buck
A dog in Apex gives back some of the $400 it swallowed.
What a story.
The same thing happened to my cousin one time, but his dog was a Doberman instead of a Swiss mountain dog. Another difference was that his dog, Saint, only swallowed one $100 bill.
We didn’t wait until the next day to walk the dog with a hose pipe and a colander. We immediately took him to the vet.
After the doctor examined the dog, he said Saint would never be able to pass the bill.
It was counterfeit.
ó Whitey Harwood
Mocksville