A few problems with the stimulus package
To the editor:
From the desks of those who created an economic perfect storm, the Bush economic team has proposed a $150 billion stimulus package. Two things I want to know:
First, do we really have $150 billion in excess tax revenue sitting in Washington, D.C.? Of course not. We’ll just have the Treasury print up some more increasingly worthless paper for the rabble.
Second, since these genius globalists have chased most of our industry out of the country, how is the stimulus supposed to have any real effect in the United States? Ten years ago the money spent by the rabble would have gone to American producers, who would pay wages and taxes to be spent or invested again. In other words, the money spent would multiply within the United States economy. Today, the revenues produced by the spending of the stimulus money will instead go to companies outside the United States, with only a small part of it multiplying within our economy.
My bet is that this package will fail to avoid, or even ameliorate, the coming recession. However, China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico and all the other beneficiaries of our lost industries will profit handsomely as we watch even more of our national wealth being drained from our economy.
JIM BROWN
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Social programs
To the editor:
I was listening to last week’s Democratic presidential debate and wondering where the money is going to come from for all the social programs that the candidates are promoting. We’re going to save the homes of people who couldn’t afford the house in the first place. We’re going to give health care to people who shouldn’t even be in this country. Is this going to happen at the expense of the middle class? That group of people who struggle to make ends meet on their own without any handouts from the government?
This country is in trouble, and we just can’t afford all these social programs that the Democrats are promising. You want something, you work for it. Instead, the Democrats want to take money from the working man and give it to people who don’t really deserve it.
GENE JAMES
LAS VEGAS
Iraqi deaths
To the editor:
Your Jan. 14 editorial on our study of Iraqi deaths published in the Lancet repeats many inaccuracies originally reported by others. Nearly a year ago, we released our Iraq study data to academics and scientific groups. One of the ethical requirements for collecting our mortality data was that no identifiers (such as addresses of households) be revealed that would place those surveyed at risk for participating in the study. For this reason we will not release information which might identify study participants.
Contrary to your statement, there was no date for the finish of the data collection. There were a specified number of households to be visited and the study was finished when all of these were interviewed. The study was carried out as a team, and we worked very closely with Riyadh Lafta as a team member at all stages of the study. Dr. Lafta has asked that he not be contacted by the media out of concern for his safety and that of his family, in a country where doctors and academics are major assassination targets.
Questions about study details have been relayed to him and matters resolved. Dr. Lafta has had a successful academic career, partly as a reliable and thoughtful partner in research with international groups. He did not have a career in the Ministry of Health largely because he was one of the small number of Iraqi doctors who refused to join the Baath party under Saddam Hussein.
MIT provided the research grant for the 2006 mortality study. The researchers were not aware that any MIT funds had come from the Soros Foundation until December 2007.
Gilbert m. Burnham
BALTIMORE
THE WRITER WAS THE LEAD AUTHOR OF THE LANCET STUDY ON IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS.
Caucus sites
To the editor:
I am really disturbed by the complaints about Nevada’s presidential caucus from some of the caucus-goers, and more particularly from the Barack Obama campaign.
I was a Democratic caucus chair. We all attended training. We were told that at 11:30 a.m., we were to give the last person in line a Presidential Preference Card (PPC) and close registration for the caucus after that person. But on a conference call the night before Saturday’s caucus, we were told to hand a PPC to the last person in line at noon, register everyone with a PPC and convene the caucus.
The other caucus chair in my location had not been on the conference call and did not know the latest instructions. I advised him, and when he questioned me I had him call our hot line and get the information directly from the party. He did that and things went smoothly. No one missed a chance to caucus at our site.
In fact, the third temporary caucus chair for our location did not show up. I reported the absence to the Democratic headquarters at Cashman Center. We agreed that I would have those attendees complete voter registration forms since I didn’t have their voter roll, and I would convene their separate precinct caucus so no one would miss a chance to legally, properly participate. This precinct had just one delegate, but that delegate can make a difference at the Clark County Democratic Convention.
DONNA WEST
LAS VEGAS