Lincoln’s insight as relevant as ever in 2013

To the editor:

In 1854, before Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States, he said: “If you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.”

This “I don’t know, I can’t remember” administration has just fulfilled the above quote. How can we, as taxpaying citizens, ever trust anyone in the White House if the IRS, FBI and Homeland Security are making sure that the playing field is not level?

Is this how the election process is supposed to work? I am not a politician, but I guess if you can eliminate your opposition by imposing certain rules that make it impossible for them to raise money or votes, you can control who wins. On Oct. 22, 2012, our president said in a radio interview, about the Hispanic vote, “We’re gonna punish our enemies and gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.” Did this also affect any current congressional members who won their seat in this last election?

Listen to speeches from politicians, and you’ll hear them say, “Everyone should have a fair shot for the American Dream. Equality is what we should strive to obtain.” And yet they do the opposite. Is this a fair way to have an election?

In 2014, the voters will have a chance (maybe) to voice their concerns of this current administration.

C. JACKSON

LAS VEGAS

Driver’s cards

To the editor:

I’m beyond 80 years old, and I admit I’m not the smartest rock in the garden, so I have a couple of questions about these driver authorization cards for illegal immigrants.

Why does the Department of Motor Vehicles have the written driver’s test in English and Spanish? To get a Nevada driver’s license, you must be a citizen. To become a citizen, you must pass a test. That test states that you must be able to write, speak and read English. Why is Spanish needed?

Also, a June 3 Review-Journal article mentioned a Hispanic woman who said that this year, she has renewed as many as 1,000 Nevada driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. How can she renew someone else’s license? You don’t suppose that there might be some hanky panky going on here, do you?

AL DUTT

LAS VEGAS

Eminent domain

To the editor:

Eminent domain is a legal process of government confiscation of private property for the public good. It should be used in a very limited manner, lest it become a process where the big fish eat the little fish. More often than not, eminent domain infringes on the property rights of individuals by unconstitutional seizure of their property and wealth.

Seizing underwater homes in North Las Vegas by using eminent domain powers is a proposed scheme being considered by North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck, the City Council and the city attorney, in conjunction with Mortgage Resolution Partners, a private venture capital firm (“Eminent domain criticism increases,” Monday Review-Journal).

Does anyone remember what the venture capital firms did to Wall Street and the real estate market only a few years ago? This scheme and other North Las Vegas schemes need to be reviewed by means of audit by both the Nevada attorney general and the United States Department of Justice.

The citizens of North Las Vegas have lost confidence in local government. All council members involved in this scheme and the city attorney should resign immediately. Ms. Buck will exit on July 1, after she was soundly defeated in the April election, evidence of a lack of confidence in the current administration.

As for the eminent domain scheme, just follow the money. Is there a private-sector job for key city employees as a result of this important and inappropriate use of eminent domain?

Many of the upside-down mortgages are due to house flipping by investors; the rest were a result of buyers taking on subprime mortgages. Those of us who bought in good faith and pay all of our bills don’t need to be put at risk by schemes such as this. When individuals make unwise financial decisions and bad investments, they need to take on their own losses.

It’s not the job of the taxpaying, up-to-date mortgage-paying citizens to bail out those who made a poor financial choice.

What explanation is there for mortgage holders not refinancing their over-the-top mortgages? A crackdown needs to be made on capitalists who make a financial windfall off of foreclosures.

CHARLES D. MUSSER

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Background checks

To the editor:

Gov. Brian Sandoval showed his true colors in vetoing extended background checks for gun ownership (“Universal background checks vetoed,” Friday Review-Journal). This isn’t a partisan opinion, since I’ve been registered in both parties and my thinking is dictated by the merits of case-by-case presentations. In this case, common sense, irrefutable statistics and nationwide sentiment have been cast aside with a stroke of the governor’s pen and his hollow statement, “It would cast an undo burden on Nevada.”

I assume he’s referring to gun commerce — money over basic principle. I don’t know what it takes to override, but if such a vote were ever needed, it’s now. I ask that all Nevadans mount a call-in drive to get our legislators to override.

In addition, we need legislation directed at holding enablers of people with serious mental problems liable for not reporting those people to appropriate authorities. “Serious” being defined as posing a serious threat to themselves and/or society, and in need of acute and/or long-term medical care. These important issues have to be addressed now if we are serious about reducing the loss of innocent lives.

LEONARD KREISLER

LAS VEGAS