Letters to the editor

Opinion pieces are just opinions, not facts

I have been dismayed recently to read erroneous fact after erroneous fact in the Letters to the Editor.

The letters are commentaries, so the Nevada Appeal is not required to verify information. But citizens would do themselves a great favor by checking facts themselves prior to submitting articles. Readers are warned: remember that what you read in the Letters to the Editor and the commentaries are opinions only.

Case in point: in Andrea Engleman's Oct. 20 letter, she comments that Brad Bonkowski supported the property tax hike voted on by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year. Brad was not even a supervisor then and has stated publicly he would not have supported such a tax increase.

Bob Thomas' Oct. 10 commentary was so chock full of misinformation it was ludicrous. Thomas accused the Northern Nevada Development Authority of not bringing jobs here, and he never bothered to check with the Northern Nevada Development Authority prior to submitting his column.

If he had, he would've known that the authority has assisted in bringing over 1,000 jobs to the region since January 2010, and specifically, five new companies to Carson City in just the past three months.

Thomas also attacked Brad for his involvement with the Northern Nevada Development Authority, although Brad has played a direct role with three of those five new companies moving here.

We are lucky in that we are a small community and the Nevada Appeal is able to print many of our opinions. It takes minimal effort to determine the factual accuracy of an opinion.

Andie Wilson

Carson City

Romney not involved

with success story

This letter is in reference to Anneliese Puthe's letter to the editor in the Oct. 20 Nevada Appeal.

With regard to Ms. Puthe's suggestion that we check out Sensata Technologies, I did just that. The true story about Mitt Romney, Bain Capital and Sensata Technologies is that Sensata was known as Texas Instruments Materials and Controls, a division of Texas Instruments Corp. They were acquired by Bain Capital in April 2006. Gov. Romney left Bain Capital to manage the U.S. Olympics in February 1999. Thus another Romney myth shattered.

Today, this company is owned by Sensata Holdings N.V. with headquarters in Almelo, the Netherlands. As of year ending 2011, this company had net revenue of $1.8 billion and 11,400 employees. For 2012, they are forecasting net revenue of $1.93 billion and net income of $363 million to $378 million. Its manufacturing sites are in Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States. Yes, 100 plus jobs from the manufacturing site in Illinois will be shipped overseas to China, but thousands of jobs have been created by the growth and acquisitions of this company in the past six years.

Another success story for Bain Capital, but I'm sad to say, Mitt Romney was not directly involved in this success story.

Steve Markoe

Dayton

Stop exploiting

youth on CC1

In regards to Ballot Question CC1, I am shocked that the promoters of this project want to build a library and a public plaza park for the youth and families of our city in a completely adult neighborhood.

Casinos, bars, cigar stores, pawn shops and motels are all great businesses for adults. There is no such thing as a family friendly casino or bar. If there was, your child could sit next to you while playing a slot machine.

The city could be inviting trouble by opening the door for parents to drop off kids at the park or library while they indulge in adult entertainment.

Parents and teachers, do you honestly want your children hanging out where gambling and alcohol prevail? I also feel that our sheriff's department has more important things to do than to constantly patrol the plaza park that will be "home" to the homeless, panhandlers and drug dealers.

For those of you that may think I am a prude, guess again. I am a small business owner of a local bar that has gaming. I do not advertise it as a family friendly business.

Please stop promoting this project as being necessary for our youth. It is no secret that the feds bailed out Wall Street, and it's not a secret to me that the "downtown" private sector wants the same type of bail out from Carson's taxpayers. Shame on you for exploiting our youth for your personal gain.

Alice Hallberg

Carson City

Jesus never taught

social justice

Being a public school teacher, social worker, fireman, police officer, etc., will not guarantee you will make a lot of money. Making a lot of money will not guarantee you happiness in this life or in any life that may or may not come hereafter.

Did Jesus Christ ever complain about His salary, benefits and pension? No, He accepted His calling and our Father's will for Him. Did Jesus Christ "redistribute" loaves and fish? No, He was offered what was available and created more Himself.

Did Jesus Christ teach about the rich and offer suggestions? Yes, on numerous occasions. Did Jesus Christ condemn the wealthy and mandate what they do with their abundance? No.

So just what is social justice anyway? And who taught it? The answer is Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky.

Rose Garman

Carson Cityi

Roberts deserves

to be re-elected

I am writing in support of Chuck Roberts for re-election to the Lyon County Commission, District 1. Chuck is the best qualified candidate, and I am supporting him for a number of reasons.

His years on the Mound House Advisory Board, the Lyon County Planning Commission, and the Lyon County Board of Commissioners have given him grass-roots experience with planning and zoning. He understands that good planning insures solid, sustainable development that benefits everyone. His opponent has no respect for, or experience with, the planning process, and would start Lyon County on a regulatory race to the bottom that would leave the taxpayers holding the bag for hasty, shortsighted development.

Chuck has conducted an honorable campaign. His opponent's supporters have demeaned the electoral process with improper tactics, including push-polling and insults and heckling at candidate forums. Chuck's opponent has accepted the enormous sum for a county commission race of $10,000 in campaign contributions from Comstock Mining Inc. This company will be applying to the Lyon County commissioners for special use permits, master plan amendments, and zoning changes that will have a tremendous impact on the lives and property of Lyon County residents.

Chuck will fairly and objectively evaluate any land-use issues regarding mining and Lyon County. His opponent, with $10,000 in his pocket, would not.

Erich Obermayr

Silver City

Romney's paid his

fair share of taxes

I keep hearing it be repeated that Mitt Romney pays lower taxes than the average working Joe.

This is only partly true, since Romney pays money on the profits from his investments, and that is not income tax. This is money that he earned when he was working, and paid income taxes on when he did earn it, and that he then invested.

The reason that rate is low is that we need people to invest their money for our economy to work.

Gary Marshall

Gardnerville

Vote for candidates

with Christian values

All of my adulthood I have voted according to how I understand what the Gospels teach are God's values for us humans to live by, by Jesus' teachings and life actions.

Jesus did not say anything about gay and lesbian people, or whether marriage is only for a man and woman. He did teach that we are not to judge others, and above all, we are to love one another, even our enemies. We are to take care of the widow, orphan and alien, in other words, the down-and-outers, the marginalized people in society.

Today, that translates to include single parents and their children, homeless people and immigrants. Jesus was inclusive, above all. He ministered to the sinners, the marginalized, the sick and ailing. Today, that would mean we are to support people in need through social welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and health care. Jesus treated everyone with love, encouragement and understanding, with equal welcoming of all. I'm sure Jesus would be for supporting a sound educational system for all children, regardless of their parents' socio-economic condition; for school lunches for the less well off; and low-cost higher education.

There is no place in Christianity for harsh judgment or hatred of specially segregated groups, or segregation of any kind. He would be for equal pay for equal work, and equal pay for equivalent health care insurance. I hope people will vote for the candidates that reflect these values, especially if they consider themselves Christian, or even faithful Jews, Muslims or Buddhists.

Rev. Dr. Jane

Foraker-Thompson

Gardnerville

Mackedon would

fight for WNC

Over past years, Western Nevada College has suffered severe funding cuts, and it's only through the dedication of the faculty, staff and students that WNC is able to continue its mission.

The supervisor candidates expressed concerned about the funding cuts to WNC and its effect on Carson City. The proposed regents' new funding formula would weigh the value of each course, giving higher values to graduate-level courses than career-advancement courses for working people. Other changes in the formula would send money heavily to the south.

We need a regent representing this area that is committed to higher education and understands its importance in the economic and community life of Northern Nevada. Michon Mackedon is such a person.

Michon is a native Nevadan with a background in teaching (28 years). She is an author and editor and has served on several state-level committees.

Our current regent, Ron Knecht, is known around the system as non-cooperative. During his one term in the legislature, he was felt to be ineffective. He is perhaps best known for his comments that Nevada is becoming "East California," and was voted by the press to be the least effective freshman.

All of Nevada needs an education advocate to represent District 9 (eight counties in northern Nevada) if we are to succeed as a region, a state, and a nation.

Let's invest in the power of education by voting for a regent, who is an advocate for higher education. Vote for Michon Mackedon.

Wendy George

Carson City

Obama sticks to

same tiring playbook

I started working on a letter in May gathering facts, websites and information generally ignored by the media regarding America's precarious present and future fate. I deleted same! Apparently, according to Obama's favorable status with some American voters, substantive information or facts would be a waste of time or above there ability to absorb the information provided by this writer.

Before I proceed any further, let me be clear I considered Obama four long years ago, but after several months of learning more about this young, unknown man, I become knowledgeable of his background from the time of his youth to his Chicago politics. Communism/Socialism was schooled in him from early youth and as he later matured, he embraced Marxism/Karl Marx. Obama actually sought and received backing from a Marxist third party when he was running for political office in Chicago in 1996. This administration has put America in a precarious situation. Obama's fetish desire to print/borrow currency has put this America in the same path worst than Greece.

Speaking of Greece, please turn on your computer and search "video - why congress does not pass a budget." Hopefully, the video has not been deleted. Recalling presidents from Roosevelt, this writer cannot remember any president who campaigned for four years spouting the same rhetoric and seemingly getting away with the same lies with some voters.

Where is there a "war against women?" Taxpayers do not want to pay for someone's sexual pleasures. Racial war? The only one who has this problem are the ones who are best served by being racist. Remember, Americans voted for a minority. This writer would really use harsh words if the president was other than a Democrat.

William Lepore, Sr.

Minden

Stop the robocalls

Like everyone, I am tired of all the campaigning phone calls.

I've found a way to both deal with them and please me: I push the answer button on my phone, then immediately hang up. This makes a completed call (for them) which is now billed to the caller. The majority of the calls come from outside our 775 area code.

Of course, I look at the caller ID before I do this so as to not hang up on someone I know.

Sandra Lee Palmer

Dayton