LETTERS: Will GOP obstruct Obama? History says otherwise
To the editor:
After the Republican gains in the U.S. Senate, newspapers are now full of “Republicans should do this, Republicans should do that.” But let’s do a little investigating into who these Republicans really are.
I might think Republican control of both houses of Congress would make things more difficult for a president of the opposing party to have his way in policy matters, but that is not always true, especially in the areas of foreign trade and foreign policy. I recall that it was congressional Republicans who gave President Bill Clinton the lion’s share of the votes he needed to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement, opposed by organized labor and most congressional Democrats. And Republicans, in control of both houses in the latter half of the 1990s, had no deterrent effect on President Clinton’s air war over Kosovo, carried out without a scintilla of authorization from Congress. In fact, the Republican-controlled House voted three times against that military campaign, but otherwise did nothing about it.
Republican members chose instead to impeach the president for perjury committed during an investigation into his sexual dalliances. Should the American people feel fooled about a so-called “Republican victory in the Senate” after this broader look at the Republican Party? I think so.
FRANK M. PELTESON
LAS VEGAS
Bundy article one-sided
To the editor:
On Nov. 9, the Review-Journal published a front-page article about Cliven Bundy. Most, if not all, of the quotes and context were from his point of view. The article was spread across three pages. Your newspaper, even without the help of the Bureau of Land Management or any other government agency, could have gotten some of the facts instead of printing all the false information from this con man.
You could have looked at land ownership records. Currently, the land he illegally grazes is owned by the citizens of the United States, not the state of Nevada. That is a fact he doesn’t like and has ignored for 20 years. He owes a lot of money because he has illegally grazed on our land. Did you ask him if he’s paid the state of Nevada for grazing on land he thinks the state owns? That would be easy to find out, but did you do it? If he would have said ‘yes,’ you could have confirmed with the state.
Did you ask about the details of his claims the federal government killed tortoises, how they did it, where they did it? I doubt you did any investigative reporting. You merely told his side of the story, and not a very truthful part.
Unless you are the Fox News of tabloids, you need to do some real reporting and follow up on all the baloney Mr. Bundy gave you.
BOB KLARICH
ST. GEORGE, UTAH
Real-world experience
To the editor:
Defeated Nevada Democrats Steven Horsford, Lucy Flores and Justin Jones all vow to return to politics in the future (Monday Review-Journal).
Why don’t they go out and find real jobs instead of feeding at the public trough? Oh wait, good-paying jobs in the private sector are hard to come by because of President Barack Obama’s policies. Maybe these three liberal progressives will get a taste of how their agenda has negatively affected our country. Then they will understand why their party suffered a humiliating loss here in Nevada and nationally.
GREG BOURGEOIS
LAS VEGAS
It’s federal land
To the editor:
In response to Paul Rodrigues’ letter to the editor in the Nov. 11 Review-Journal, “Nevada’s land”:
Which particular part of the Constitution is Mr. Rodrigues citing as to “getting back” the land that the federal government “took” from the state? At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the federal government acquired the land that became Nevada. When did the state of Nevada acquire the federal land?
ED SMALLEY
HENDERSON
