LETTERS: Uncooperative GOP drags down U.S.
To the editor:
Regarding Gene Grabau’s letter (“President’s missteps,” Feb. 28 Review-Journal), like many others of the same mindset who write the Review-Journal, Mr. Grabau made charges against President Barack Obama with no facts to back them up. As a registered independent, I have supported the GOP and voted for some of its candidates when I believed they were the better choice in national and local elections over these many years.
Today, I can no longer support a party that has done nothing for the good of the country over the past six years. The moderate Republicans in the House and the Senate bow to a handful of extreme members to save their own skin when they come up for re-election. They have done nothing to cooperate with the president and his fellow Democrats over the years, and despite their obstruction, the president prevented the country from slipping into a depression that would have been catastrophic for America.
The first order of business for Congress this year for the new members being seated was to take the 59th vote to overturn Obamacare — another meaningless vote after the Supreme Court has already determined it is the law of the land. I have yet to hear of one Republican who has an alternate plan for health care reform.
Congress has also held seven hearings on Benghazi, trying to link Hillary Clinton to this tragedy, and there is no proof of any kind that she is in any way responsible. Now they are planning another hearing on this same charge, and the end result will be the same.
This is politics at its worst, and the Republicans must carry the burden that I believe will come back to haunt them in the 2016 elections. I would ask a rhetorical question: Where is the GOP of the past, the party that gave us one of our great presidents, the late Dwight D. Eisenhower? That’s the question Mr. Grabau should be asking himself. This was a party that didn’t cave in to Democrats, but worked hand-in-hand with them to get things done for the betterment of American lives.
JERRY HILL
HENDERSON
More national parks
To the editor:
California, Arizona and Utah have large federal conservation lands that attract tourists from around the world. In Las Vegas, visitors from around the world use our city as a hub to visit Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and Zion — all of which are in other states. We could keep these visitors in Nevada, and keep their tourist dollars here, if we developed park areas of similar quality.
With Red Rock Canyon, the Spring Mountains, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire and Great Basin as our base, we could add Gold Butte and Basin and Range to create our own grand circle of parks in Nevada. By keeping tourists in our state, or even just connecting our parks with those in other states, Nevada could develop an energetic outdoor tourist economy in gateway communities on par with our neighbors.
Gold Butte (Clark County), with its many wonders, is well-known to local outdoor enthusiasts, but Basin and Range (Lincoln and Nye Counties) is little-known. Basin and Range offers grand vistas, from enormous unspoiled basins to snow-capped mountain ranges, with a cultural history spanning the last 11,000 years and remarkable geologic formations. Conserving Basin and Range would also enable Nevada ranchers to stay on the land as they have for generations, keep open miles of back roads and conserve the unspoiled view from Michael Heizer’s land art project, “City.”
Basin and Range is already federal land, so enormous benefit could be gained in Nevada by drawing a line on a map, changing the name of the enclosed area and constructing a couple of campgrounds. This seems like a no-brainer for rural economic development.
JIM BOONE
LAS VEGAS
