Letters to the editor — Tuesday (8-5-14)

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Problems near and far urgently need attention
We are still waiting for an explanation of what happened between the Salisbury City Council and the city manager. It seems that somebody did something wrong since the parties involved are using lawyers as spokesmen and declaring the laws of the land permit them to hide the truth. This is a public matter and we have a right to know.
Next concerns Cal Thomas’ column on July 24 that examined stopping aid to Palestine. I tend to agree with some of his sentiments but we need to stop foreign aid to Israel, too. What have we gotten for our nation building efforts? Billions of dollars later we still have a mess. The Zionists have not honored the border treaties and have built illegal settlements. There is not a peaceful solution in sight. We should halt aid to all sides. We need to mind our own business and take care of our domestic problems.
Finally, this leads to our federal budget. I read that Rep. Virginia Foxx is holding a seminar to educate people on the difficulty in balancing the federal budget. I suggest across-the-board cuts to everything, starting with the salaries and benefits of all legislators, judges and executives (the president) and their staffs. All spending across the board should be cut by that equal percentage; then everyone and everything has “skin in the game.” When the reality sets in on how this hurts many citizens, there would be an interest in ridding the government of unnecessary expenses. We would reduce foreign aid, enforce immigration laws, get rid of unneeded personnel and departments like Homeland Security (the FBI and CIA should work together and take over this department). It may even motivate legislators to institute a better tax structure and agency. We might even have money available for a better insurance plan to replace Obamacare.
— Brad Farrah
Salisbury

What’s wrong with picture?
Why can we get missionaries out of Africa — with an incurable disease, I might add — but we can’t protect our people in Benghazi or get them out? This is a question that will be unanswered in the minds of a lot of patriotic Americans like myself.
— Gary White
Salisbury