Who decides who deserves mortgage help?

Regarding the Nov. 16 letter to the editor from Christine Munro, counsel to the board of the Nevada Hardest Hit Fund: I’m disgusted. What about people paying their own way and assuming responsibility for their actions?

The money this agency disburses is supposed to be for those suffering through no fault of their own. Making stupid decisions and/or taking advantage of a program for their own personal gain should not be considered "hard times."

In Ms. Munro’s first testimonial in support of the program, Sandra Oliver decided to stay in a home she could not afford and compounded the problem by refinancing to fund her son’s education. Whatever happened to her son working to pay for his education like so many of us did? It sounds like the $9,000 of taxpayer money she received is only a temporary fix for her. How did she pay the mortgage after that?

As for Ms. Munro’s second example, how did William Shively pay off his mortgage after the fund and the bank agreed to financing terms? Was he given taxpayer money to assist in reducing his principal?

ROBERT BURTON

LAS VEGAS

Only some of them

To the editor:

I was just reading the reviews for the movie "Lincoln." Daniel Day Lewis is of course a great actor. However, I don’t think Steven Spielberg, though a great director, is too much of a historian. Otherwise he would have mentioned that the Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the South. The slave owners in the North were allowed to keep theirs. Republicans had to come up with the 13th Amendment to free them.

If you’re going to tell a story, tell the whole truth, not just the way you think it should have been.

RODNEY T. ELKINS

LAS VEGAS

Risky business

To the editor:

I do not want to stand in atheist Damon Vix’s shoes on judgment day ("Christmas display fight goes to court," Monday Review-Journal). It is a dangerous proposition to mock the existence of God in His presence.

ROB GARDNER

MESQUITE

California solution

To the editor:

Letter writers and pundits who support the Republican anti-tax scam have another problem on their hands besides the re-election of President Obama: California now has Democratic supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly.

No longer will the Republican anti-tax jihad be able to hold the California state budget hostage every year; the Democratic majority can now bring in additional revenue and make the state solvent. The super rich will share more in the state’s tax burden.

This is what Republicans have been clamoring about, right? Balancing the state’s budget and getting a handle on the deficit. Republicans got their wish. With Democrats in control and the Republican anti-tax corpse sidelined, the state may function as it is supposed to.

And this is a warning to the fanciers of the Republican anti-tax conundrum in states around the country and in the U.S. government. Your days are numbered, as fiscal balance and sanity are highlighted in California.

RON LOWE

NEVADA CITY, CALIF.

Quality of life

To the editor:

The iron has never been hotter. It’s time to strike! With recent increases in California taxes including income and sales, what better time for the Nevada economic development engine to begin an all-out blitz for attracting businesses and high-tech, high-income citizenry to our region?

It is imperative that the state assist in promoting our quality of life, the real tipping point after taxes and business climate.

BRUCE SPECTER

RENO

Who needs ’em?

To the editor:

I watched a very touching tribute to Whitney Houston Nov. 16. All the wonderful plaudits to someone with a spectacular voice. Too bad all those 1 percenters did not behave well as they watched Ms. Houston’s life spiral downward. Where were they when she needed the help from her "friends"?

I read Jane Ann Morrison’s Monday column ("Nevada looks attractive to Californians facing tax hikes"), about the possible influx from California to Idaho and Nevada. I am not so sure how wonderful this might be. Just look at their influence in the states of Oregon and Washington.

They may flee the state of California, but they continue to vote as if they are still in California. Do we really need that?

DOUG MANOOKIAN

LAS VEGAS

Ready to shrug

To the editor:

Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith ("Nursing sore ribs, Reid continues battering Republicans," Oct. 30) gloats over Harry Reid’s defeat of "Karl Rove and 17 angry old white men" who tried "to buy the election." He doesn’t mention that those men provide jobs for millions of people.

Faced with a regime that will move closer and closer toward Marxism, they will move their business activity to foreign countries where they are appreciated. Mr. Smith will not be so happy when the wealthy hypocrites like Joe Biden and Harry Reid take a big chunk out of his wealth.

HANS BOHN

LAS VEGAS