Train derailed — is anyone paying attention?
To the editor:
I hope Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his supporters of the train to nowhere read the Business section in Saturday’s Review-Journal. A headline reads: “The Losing Streak: Gamblers train ends after three-year run.”
It seems that casinos put up their own money — $19 million — for a train from New York City to Atlantic City. Then the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority dropped in an additional $2 million to cover the first-year losses of $5.9 million.
The spokeswoman for Caesars Atlantic City stated, “It was an issue of tunnel time and track time and being able to provide a convenient schedule for riders. It just didn’t work out.”
These guys put up millions and it didn’t work. Sen. Reid wants to put up billions of our money for a line between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif.
It’ll work then. After all, unlike Atlantic City, everybody wants to go to Victorville.
Forrest A. Henry
North Las Vegas
ID, please
To the editor:
I find it ludicrous that the U.S. Department of Justice is claiming that requiring a photo ID to vote, which is a privilege and not a right, could “disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of registered Hispanics” at the polls. It was further stated that state requirements for this photo ID “have drawn protests from minorities, poor people and students.”
What a crock.
This is nothing more than the party in the White House trying to ensure that it keeps control of the White House.
Further, I don’t know of a state or college that doesn’t, for a nominal fee, provide a personal ID card after you prove that you are who you say you are. Perhaps that’s where the problem lies — not being able to prove your identity through a certified birth certificate.
Why is it wrong to require a photo ID to vote when it’s a federal requirement to provide a photo ID and either be groped or body-scanned to board an airplane? Why is it all right for the U.S. government to require a photo ID, such as a passport, from foreign nationals when they apply for a visa? Why is it all right to demand a photo ID from me when I’m required to serve as a juror? Why is it all right for merchants and banks to require a photo ID from a customer to write a check or use a credit card?
Is the Justice Department investigating these photo ID requirements?
All the above examples are nothing more than identity fraud prevention, which after 9/11 became a necessity in our country, whether it applies to voting, jury service or purchasing goods and services.
Because the Democrats are protesting the requirement that voters prove they are eligible to vote, perhaps the polls should be moved to the secure area beyond the checkpoints in airports. That way their protest of a photo ID requirement will die a quick death, and the courts won’t get clogged with frivolous lawsuits.
Kathleen M. Stone
Pahrump
Obama cares
To the editor:
I keep hearing the three Republicans running for president say they will repeal ObamaCare. I never hear them say what they will replace it with.
What happens to those already on it or waiting desperately to be allowed to sign up? Do they just get tossed out? Why is it we can provide care all over the world but not here for our own?
If this is a sample of Christian, conservative compassion, we should be careful what we wish for, because we might just get it.
P.C. Rustigian
Las Vegas
Still criminals
To the editor:
In response to your Monday editorial on Nevada’s prison boot camp system:
Unfortunately, this alternative to prison seemed to set itself up for failure. While it was a good solution on paper, the actual chances of this type of system working were slim.
Prisoners won’t learn from intense military training or education classes. These criminals were placed in prison for a reason, and a few weeks of hard work won’t set them straight.
I applaud the idea and the fact that someone out there is trying to save the taxpayers money, but this was not the way to go about it. The numbers show that many of the participants end up right back in prison. Maybe it’s time to realize some criminals will always turn back to their old ways no matter what opportunities they are presented.
Nikki Doherty
Las Vegas
Two standards
To the editor:
In response to your Tuesday editorial on Rep. Shelley Berkley:
I would like to ask Rep. Berkley where her criticism was when liberals made comments about Michelle Malkin, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Condaleezza Rice, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Some of these comments were much worse than what Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke.
Why does Rep. Berkley have two different standards?
O.D. Miller
Laughlin
