Letters to the Editor March 20

The system is still broken after 16 years

I am responding to Mr. Jackson's letter about his experience at the market. My husband and I decided to move to Nevada over 10 years ago because we had this same experience time and time again. We would go to the market, only to be behind someone in line paying with food stamps wearing gold chains, a Rolex watch, and getting into a Mercedes, Cadillac, or other late-model expensive vehicle.

We had our own family business wherein some of the accounts were apartments. Some of these apartment tenants were subsidized with government money. There would be suitcases not yet unpacked with the airline tag on them, yet a book of food stamps was in plain sight.

The city we left allegedly advertised overseas for persons to relocate there. Either government fraud has gone unnoticed or, in over 16 plus years, the system is still broken.

April Stevens

Gardnerville

Senior: Fairview drivers please slow down

While sitting, waiting, cussing, fuming, to get out of our community, Quail Run, on Fairview Drive, I came to the conclusion that there are no speed limits, although posted 35 mph, and that Fairview is just an extension of the freeway where the posted speed limit is 65 mph. Since no one drives that slow in Nevada, why drive 35 on Fairview? Besides, there's never any highway patrol or sheriff monitoring it.

Then I realized, there's nowhere to pull a speeding vehicle over on Fairview other than the driveways into the gym or Lowe's, or even our street Bobwhite Drive. That was another brilliant thing they didn't think of, did they?

Please be aware that most of us who live in Quail Run Retirement Community are in the age range that sometimes makes our reflexes and eyesight somewhat diminished, and our judgments sometimes questioned. When you see us sitting with an exasperated look on our faces, be aware that we just might pull out whether you're coming down the street well over the speed limit. We've got places to go and things to do as much as you. We may not be late for work, but getting to the senior center for lunch is very important to some of us, and we'd like to forego a trip to the hospital first.

All kidding aside, please slow down on Fairview, no matter which direction you're going, and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank you.

Phillip Gregory

Carson City

Is it a struggle for labor rights or terror tactics?

The same liberals who simpered about the uncivil discourse that supposedly caused the Tucson shootings are now covering over the premeditated hooliganism in Wisconsin.

Public employees have both union representation and civil service job protection. Collective bargaining too often means that government worker unions sit down with the politicians whose campaigns they finance and negotiate amongst themselves. Their union bosses get fat paychecks and the unrepresented taxpayer gets the bill.

When Wisconsin's elected government proposed to put the taxpayer back in charge, Obama's campaign operation "Organizing for America" bused in out-of-state union thugs to augment in-state government worker goon squads. (Politico, Ben Smith, Feb.17) Rioters occupied the capitol building, shut down state government, committed $7.5 million of vandalism to taxpayer property (Wisconsin Department of Administration), beat people up (Fox News), and harassed legislators' families to stop the reform movement.

Right now those fighting for the middle class are threatening legislators, their families, and their campaign contributors with death (CBS News March 11). Given the cache of hollow point ammunition in an area occupied by protesters (Des Moines Free Press, March 4), they should be taken seriously.

This isn't a struggle for non-existent labor rights, it's the terror tactics of the Taliban union bosses and their political enforcers. They're telling every state that their capitol is only a bus ride away from chaos.

It seems Barack Obama will always be a community organizer at heart, using mob violence to void election results he doesn't agree with.

Lynn Muzzy

Minden

When will Paslov stop blaming previous administration?

Mr. Paslov,

After reading your ranting about the terrible Republicans for the last few years, I have finally had enough. How dare you say that this latest economic meltdown is just a cyclical thing and that the government is not broke. The reason the government is not broke is because thieves like you have robbed the general public to pay for your radical spending. We, the people, are going broke to support the likes of you.

Please tell me exactly how long are you going to continue to blame everything on the previous administration? At what point are you going to hold this administration accountable? Most of the stimulus money was spent, not on shovel-ready jobs, but to pay for your cronies retirement accounts.

Oh, by the way, Rory Reid - you know the guy you said was honorable, and was doing the right thing - was funneling millions of dollars into shell PACs? This, Mr. Paslov, proves to all of us that your perception skills are broken.

The beauty of your ignorance is that you have taught us not to trust what you say, but watch what you - and those who support you - do.

Patrick Coons

Gardnerville

Attitudes encourage union-busting to feed personal bottom line

Regarding the letters of March 12, Frank Z. Paluch insists that union leaders have too much power because they contribute to candidates who work to keep hard-won rights for the American middle class - as if this is a bad thing - ending with yet another attack on the working people of this country.

Elaine Shields spews out a laundry list of complaints condemning the usual suspects in any right-wing diatribe, including statements like "...teachers don't need any more money than a waitress. All are servants of some sort."

Well, that's true. Every working person serves someone, private or public. So why this knee-jerk paranoia concerning public workers who exist to serve the needs of their communities, and unions, who also fight for waitresses to receive a decent paycheck?

Thirty years ago teaching was an honorable profession, and unions were treasured for the rights they had won for every working person, rights like 40-hour weeks and safe working conditions. Today, teachers are openly targeted as greedy, self-serving villains, and unions are the enemy of the middle class - which they helped to create.

These attitudes are squarely in the corner of wealthy corporations, who encourage this blind, fanatical promotion of union-busting and privatization to feed their own bottom line.

Leigh McGuire

Stagecoach

Teachers deserve respect

I am writing in response to a letter from Elaine Shields. Although there were several things she was upset about, there was one comment that amazed me. Her comment was that "teachers don't need any more money than a waitress." It was a statement that belittled both hardworking waiters/waitresses and teachers. What was she thinking?

Here is a brief idea of my time when I taught fourth grade. I won't go into how much time, energy and money went into getting a teaching degree. Let's just talk about the school year. I got to school 90 minutes before school started. Another fourth grade teacher and I stayed until 5 p.m., long after the students had gone home at 3:30. We went back to school at least one weekend a month to get the room ready for a new month. There were lots of meetings, parent conferences, student activities and community events that we enjoyed and felt we needed to attend. There were stacks of papers to take home to correct each evening. We were required to take classes during the summer to update our credentials. I sometimes thought if my salary were adjusted for the time I actually spent, I would be astounded, but I loved the job.

Teachers know in tough times, there are sacrifices to be made. But do not for one minute forget that these are the people who are shaping our future. You give them your children for years, now give them your respect.

Sheilla Kiley

Carson City

Reid must be worried about competition

I see old hard rock Harry wants to eliminate brothels in Nevada - guess he is getting scared of the competition - after all, he has been doing the same thing to Nevadans for years.

Mike Shaughnessy

Carson City