Does Reid believe U.S. is about more spending?
To the editor:
Speaking of the cut, cap and balance bill, Sen. Harry Reid is quoted as saying on the Senate floor, “And I’m not going to waste the Senate’s time day after day on this piece of legislation, which I think is an anathema to what our country is all about.”
What is Sen. Reid’s idea of what our country is all about?
I also have several ideas of what this country is all about. None of my ideas include more government spending, more regulation, more taxes, more unsustainable debt. My taxes are already more than my mortgage, home maintenance and utilities. Thus, a home is not my biggest investment. As it turns out, government is my biggest investment, and a rather poor one.
Did Sen. Reid help kill the cut, cap and balance bill because he had a better plan? No. Sen. Reid has no plan at all, other than the unsustainable business as usual.
Cut, cap and balance may not have been the best idea, but is was a step in the right direction.
We can no longer afford Sen. Reid’s vision of “what this country is all about.”
Les McKay
Las Vegas
Off the air
To the editor:
Politics and political commentators never fail to amaze me. I must say, though, that for what seems like the first time ever I am in complete agreement with Steve Sebelius and his comments about Alan Stock (Friday Review-Journal).
Mr. Stock was released by CBS radio (KNXT-AM and FM in Las Vegas) after 12 great years with the station. Mr. Sebelius was absolutely correct when he said that Mr. Stock was honest, had a love for politics, a love of debate and was always informative.
I will add that I, too, was not always in agreement with Mr. Stock, but I always found him interesting and informative. Mr. Stock was always prepared for his shows and for what his guests often through at him unexpectedly. Mr. Stock, to say the least, was correct more often than wrong on how he saw things and how he gave us the information that we needed in order to make up our own minds.
KNXT’s loss will soon be some other station’s gain and we here in Las Vegas will once again be able to hear a voice of reason and a friend to all of Las Vegas.
Bob Dubin
Las Vegas
Wasteful project
To the editor:
On Monday, the Review-Journal reported on a murder on the 1400 block of F Street. The story caught my eye because the plans to construct a very expensive tunnel under Interstate 15 to connect F Street have made me wonder about the character of the neighborhood.
The Review-Journal report provided the following answer, “One women, who refused to give her name, said the shooting was probably gang-related because of the high gang presence in the neighborhood.” This opinion was confirmed by an apartment owner who described the neighborhood as “tough” with “a lot of drug activity.
As I understand it, $30 million has been budgeted to construct the F Street tunnel in spite of the fact that there is already a nearby underpass, i.e., the D Street tunnel which is less than 1,000 yards away. On top of that, Washington Avenue is also nearby and it provides another I-15 underpass. Nowhere else will there be three underpasses in such close proximity in the Las Vegas Valley If or when the F Street tunnel is constructed.
How can our city/county governments possibly justify this boondoggle in the midst of our financial crises with all the budget cuts and layoffs? Who among us does not expect that the eventual cost of the tunnel will grow from $30 million to $40 million, $50 million or $60 million?
Richard McGarrity
Las Vegas
Smith’s dismantling
To the editor:
In response to John L. Smith’s Sunday column: Harry Reid’s puppet is warming the strings early for the next election season.
It is astounding to me how John L. Smith — the veteran, intrepid reporter of the Las Vegas beat — can be so uninformed of the economic reality of this town. Southern Nevada is indeed “foreclosure central,” and there are well-intentioned people losing their homes, but to play the pathetic “struggling homeowner” card to evoke sympathy for same is pure ignorance of the facts.
There are reasons why millions of dollars poured into federal programs have been a flop — and insufficient funds is most certainly not one.
The true demographic profile of a “struggling” Las Vegas homeowner is: a middle-aged male, owns — and rents out — two or more homes (even as mortgage payments go unpaid), resides in California or Canada and is financially viable.
These investors hold a significant majority of mortgagees in default here. Do they qualify for assistance? Should we throw more taxpayer money at these poor “little guys?” Has there been an accounting of the first $43 million?
Sen. Dean Heller’s biggest challenge is not his ability to connect with voters, but rather, the voters’ ability to see through Mr. Smith’s subtle and predictable dismantling of any conservative candidate. Surely, in the interest of fairness, Mr. Smith will write an equally hard-hitting piece on Mr. Heller’s Democratic opponent. Right?
Beverly King
Las Vegas
