Ryan pick means it’s 1964 all over again

The year was 1964, the Cold War raged and the atomic bomb terrified people all over the world. In his acceptance speech as the Republican candidate for president that year, Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater uttered these words: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”

Sen. Goldwater was very principled and full of new ideas for our country and the world. He scared people with his new ideas; it seemed extremism and the atomic bomb did not mix well. His opponent in 1964 was President Johnson, who was considered the safe-bet candidate.

It was very gutsy of Mitt Romney to pick Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as the 2012 GOP candidate for vice president, but it was also very dangerous. Just like Sen. Goldwater, Rep. Ryan is very principled and full of new ideas for our country. However, the congressman’s ideas are very tough medicine for our country. Will the American public want to take their medicine, and possibly live or die with any side effects from those new ideas? Or do they want to possibly live or die with the status quo?

With Mr. Romney and Rep. Ryan endorsing these new ideas, we are back to the future. Instead of the Cold War, we have the economy, Social Security and Medicare. Will this mix well, or will the voters run to the safe bet? It’s 1964 all over again.

Cary De Grosa

Las Vegas

Escape artist

To the editor:

So CJ the chimp escapes again (Monday Review-Journal). Is anyone surprised? CJ’s owner gives a new meaning to the word idiotic.

A 200-pound chimp in the middle of Las Vegas? A Great Dane isn’t good enough? Thankfully, the innocent animal wasn’t hurt this time, and the chimp is now safely in a zoo, where she belongs, before she goes to a sanctuary.

I suggest CJ’s owners move to Kenya if they want to maintain a wild animal park.

Joe Molinaro

Henderson

Daily dose of Bryce

To the editor:

Thank you for putting Bryce Harper’s statistics on the front page of the Sports section every day. It’s interesting to see how the hometown boy is doing in the big leagues without having to search through statistics.

Val Campbell

Las Vegas

Will of Congress

To the editor:

Even if Sen. Harry Reid is correct and Mitt Romney did not pay any taxes for a decade, who’s at fault? Mr. Romney for legally taking advantage of the law, or Sen. Reid for making the law?

Tax breaks are supposedly created to encourage people to invest their money in the areas Congress selects. Anyone who legally pays no taxes should be praised for following the will of Congress.

Michael Duval

Las Vegas

Defending vouchers

To the editor:

In his Saturday letter to the editor headlined “Can’t vouch,” William R. Fouts states that “a school voucher system is a horrible idea for Nevada.” He then refers to a Louisiana voucher program that compensates some schools that expose students to patently ridiculous claims. Please note that some, not all, of Louisiana’s schools taught this curriculum.

His argument is actually one of the reasons the voucher system should be used. Under the current system, if parents cannot afford a private school, they must send their child to the school in their district. If that school was like the Louisiana school, they would have to expose their child to patently ridiculous claims.

Under a voucher system, parents could choose a different school that did not expose students to patently ridiculous claims. A voucher system allows parents the opportunity to decide on which school is the best for their child.

Tom Jones

Las Vegas

The writer is Clark County chairman of the Independent American Party and a candidate for the 3rd Congressional District.