Foreclosures down because of state law, not Obama

To the editor:

It was preposterous for HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to give credit to the Obama administration for reducing foreclosure filings throughout Nevada by 67 percent since last April (commentary, Wednesday Review-Journal).

It is not the changes in lending practices announced by Mr. Obama in October that have reduced foreclosure filings. It is the new rules set forth in Assembly Bill 284 – requiring, since Oct. 1, the filing of notarized affidavits as to possession of promissory notes and deeds of trust before filing a notice of default – that has nearly brought those filings to a standstill.

MICHAEL NEU

North Las Vegas

Nurses and whales

To the editor:

In response to the May 25 Business section story, "Sunrise Hospital to cut 144 jobs": If you are not angry, you are not paying attention.

The corporation that owns the hospital, HCA of Nashville, Tenn., made $540 million in three months. Couldn’t its executives be satisfied with $440 million? They could have doubled the number of nurses in their local hospitals. Instead, they lay off workers and make those who remain double-up on their duties.

We should learn from historical precedent. Whaling was a profitable, rewarding career for young men in the late 1700s and early 1800s. What followed was the so-called "Golden Age" of American whaling.

But as corporations chased maximum profits, the salaries and conditions for workers declined. Captains began to be hired not so much for their maritime skills, but more for their ability to maximize worker productivity and maintain discipline. Like Herman Melville, many men took their chances on desolate islands with notoriously unfriendly natives. Mutinies became more common.

In our local hospitals, mid-level administrators are turning into Captain Ahabs. They demand more and more "output" from nurses who have been understaffed for years. If you find yourself in a hospital bed, wouldn’t you prefer care from a nurse who isn’t drowning herself?

WILLIAM R. FOUTS

LAS VEGAS

The abuse continues

To the editor:

In response to your Friday story, "Fired-then-reinstated firefighter sues county":

So now that Donald Munn is back to work, he has decided to again abuse the taxpayers of Clark County with the cost of a lawsuit.

This man typifies the problem we have as a country with our public-sector employees and their unions. Could he have gotten away with this in the private sector?

DAVID LYONS

Las Vegas

Hands out

To the editor:

It shocks me to see how much money is being spent to run for president, given that the economy is in the toilet. So many Americans are suffering, trying to support their families. Families have lost their homes, people have no jobs. It is simply not right.

The president condemns Wall Street and Bain Capital yet he has both hands out accepting their money.

President Obama has failed to fulfill many of his promises to the American people. He once said that if you want to know who he is, see the people he surrounds himself with. These people are Marxists, communists, lobbyists and union leaders. What a joke.

PAT GRAHAM

LAS VEGAS

Demonizing business

To the editor:

Former Barack Obama supporter Mort Zuckerman, editor of U.S. News & World Report, said it best when he characterized the president’s administration as the "most anti-business in history."

The May jobs reports reflects the damaging effect of demonizing business and building a re-election strategy around class warfare. What we are seeing is the result of a complete assault upon business that includes higher taxes on business owners, mandates that cripple small businesses and regulations that cost thousands of dollars to follow. The bottom line is there is no bottom line – business start-ups are at an historic low, which means very few new jobs.

We see letter writers almost every day wailing about evil business owners. Tales of corporate raiders and heartless business people firing workers for their own personal gain. Those stories do not reflect the vast, vast majority of business owners and the treatment of their employees. We as a society had better wake up and realize that we either support the business community and stop the attack on capital or we will degrade into a banana republic with a massive entitlement class.

Unless we reject these attempts to pit American versus American via class envy and get back to our capitalist roots, we will see pathetic numbers like this for the next four years. And that means a major decrease in the standard of living for not only ourselves, but for our future generations.

JOSEPH SCHILLMOELLER

LAS VEGAS

Mixed-up priorities?

To the editor:

Bravo and applause to casino moguls Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson for helping raise more than $2 million for another millionaire while our schools are laying off teachers and our municipalities are cutting important city services.

I guess they owe their gratitude to their millionaire friends instead of the people of Las Vegas, who helped them become the billionaires they are today.

That’s gratitude for you.

MAMIE GLORIOSO

Las Vegas

Boyd moves

To the editor:

With Boyd Gaming Corp. purchasing all those out-of-state hotel-casinos, maybe the company could find a little extra cash to clean up the pachyderm poo poo around its white elephant on the Strip ("Boyd Gaming to buy Peninsula Gaming for $1.45 billion," May 17 Review-Journal).

The story notes that Boyd CEO Keith Smith said the company is still committed to Las Vegas and will continue to look for local opportunities. Well, here’s one for which he can stop looking and start doing. Maybe his unsightly neighbor, the "Blue Monstrosity," will take the hint.

D.M. SEIERSEN

LAS VEGAS