Letters to the Editor Sept. 7

Couple voting for Marshall

It's sad to see how far to the right Republican Mark Amodei has tacked in the race for Congressional District 2 by signing the Grover Norquist pledge to not increase taxes. Apparently, Mr. Norquist, who has not been elected by anyone to anything, includes closing unfair, unintended or obsolete tax loopholes as not permitted by his pledge. It's not the middle class, nor most of the Nevadans in Congressional District 2, that are the primary beneficiaries of the generosity of those loopholes. But it is the middle class that are paying for them.

No candidate should promise not to consider closing tax loopholes, not at a time when our nation and our states need to muster all the resources that make sense to fight two wars, address crumbling roads, bridges and dams, fund incubation of new technology to regain our competitive edge and yes, help states rebuild from the devastation of recent natural disasters. The only pledge that our elected representatives should sign is in their oath of office.

Democrat Kate Marshall has not signed the Norquist pledge. She comes from the middle class and knows Nevadans are hurting. She has ideas to encourage banks to make small business loans instead of hoarding their cash. As treasurer, she brought a job-creating bill to the 2011 Nevada Legislature, something the Treasurer's Office had never done before. It's easy to be the party of No, but it doesn't help. We have all seen that. We're voting for Kate Marshall.

Marion Barritt & Barbara White

Gardnerville

Nevada's AG is

fighting for us

In these times of wholesale corruption at all levels, public and private, when politicians are purchased like so many tools to do the bidding of corporations that have brought the nation to ruin by shipping jobs overseas, polluting the environment, and raiding the treasury while contributing less and less to it, it is inspiring to see the rare politician actually fighting for the public good rather than covering for corporate criminals.

Such people are few and far between as the moneyed interests regularly and successfully drive them from office with slick ads painting them as demons out to feast on the flesh of our children.

We have 50 states, each with its very own attorney general whose job it is to prosecute criminal behavior and enforce the law. Of those 50, there are only a dozen which are exercising their power on behalf of the public interest. Attorneys general like Schneiderman of New York, Biden of Delaware and Coakley of Massachusetts are among those few.

Proudly, for us here in Nevada, our very own attorney general may be included in that esteemed group. Catherine Cortez Masto is leading the way in her investigation of the criminal activities of the Bank of America regarding foreclosure fraud. While most AG's bought into the whitewash that was the foreclosure fraud settlement, our AG did not.

We, in Nevada, should be proud to have such a person of integrity, dedication to the public interest and the rule of law leading our Justice Department.

Vince Coyle

Carson City

Express wild horse concerns at BLM meeting

Steven, from my experience, to some degree you are correct in your interpretation. Bureau of Land Management is required to remove trespassing horses from private property, but that doesn't mean that they have to remove them from the range.

Here's where things get tricky in Carson City.

A year ago the stakeholders, including the local wild horse groups, came to a general agreement with respect to management of horses in the Pine Nut Range. BLM agreed not to remove any horses from within the herd management area, but rather institute temporary fertility control. BLM kept the range population near the upper limit instead of gathering down to minimum appropriate management levels.

The flip side to that deal was that horses designated as problem horses, horses that established territories outside the designated HMA and that drew complaints, would be permanently removed. BLM kept to their side of the bargain so we have to keep to ours.

Unfortunately problem horses in urban areas are typically human caused. Some residents think it's cool to entice horses to stay in urbanized areas by offering feed and water.

I'm thinking that you might consider taking your concept of meeting with BLM a step further and involve the neighborhood. That way, all the issues and concerns can be addressed, and the concerned parties will have first-hand information. In the past, such approaches have produced practical long-term solutions, so long as everyone stays objective and solution oriented.

Willis Lamm

vice chair, Lyon County Animal Services Advisory Board

Dayton