Letters to the editor for Sunday, April 5, 2015

Athletics second to WNC meeting educational needs

Baseball is considered the all-American pastime and a feel-good sport. That being said, it needs to be realized the primary purpose of Western Nevada College is to provide educational opportunities to students to enable them to earn a better income, at the same time meeting the needs of local employers. The college was started to be an institution that provided training in law enforcement, nursing, welding, machining, automotive, construction trades, computers as well as prepare those students wanting to pursue a four-year degree.

At the college level, it is nice to have an athletic program, but it should help support itself. If the program attracts more students and increases enrollment (more than just the players) and admissions fees from spectators help offset the cost, then the program can be provided. If the athletic program costs are $400,000 and it takes away from the primary purpose of the college, then unfortunately it either has to go, or some other way (besides taxpayers’ dollars) needs to fund it.

In this community there is a real need for skilled educated people to meet the needs of the manufacturers, construction trades, medical personnel, law enforcement and students preparing to go on for a four-year degree. If Western Nevada College focused on these needs and provided the scheduling and education and training needed, enrollment would increase, and just maybe the revenue would be such to allow this college to have an athletic program.

William Knight

Carson City

Guess which ‘right’ will survive after collision course

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) by the narrowest of margins; thus emphasizing wide differences in its interpretations of The U.S. Constitution. That decision was remarkable since the Constitution was weaved from Judeo-Christian principles and the principle stated within the Declaration of Independence, i.e. to end national ties which deny “separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.”

Even so, the DOMA decision didn’t settle this issue. Following that decision, some state executives defied lower court orders to provide applications for same-sex marriage licenses. Others surrendered to those edicts; thereby reversing voter decisions to defend the sanctity of marriage within their states.

Currently, this issue is on a collision course with The First Amendment right which prohibits making any law that impedes the free exercise of religion. What will happen when these two “rights” collide? Guess which one will survive.

Look at Indiana and other states which have passed legislation to protect religious freedoms. This could be settled by amending the U.S. Constitution one way or the other; thereby giving all citizens a voice in the matter, instead of leaving it in the hands of a few politically biased appointees. In any case, our God has already decided, and his word isn’t subject to our courts, cultural trends or opinions — “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Kenneth L. Ready

Carson City

Bill would destroy state worker pensions

Nevada state employees do not receive Social Security benefits; the state pension is in lieu of Social Security.

Additionally, scientists and engineers working as Nevada state employees receive salaries that are at least 40 percent less than salaries paid to their counterparts in the private sector.

On top of these severely depressed wages, Nevada state employees have been mandated to forfeit approximately 10 percent of their pay and benefits (that’s $5,000 of a $50,000 salary) for the past six years to balance Nevada’s budget and have had no raises for eight years. This is nothing but wage theft from the middle class. What next?

Well, now Nevada state legislators have introduced a pension-destruction bill written by the Wall-Street corporate “bill mill,” ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). That’s right, Nevada legislators introduced a Wall-Street-bought-and-paid-for bill to “solve” a nonexistent “pension problem.” And a legislative analysis of this bill found that this “fix” would actually cost taxpayers $800 million more per year!

The fact is that Nevada PERS is one of the lowest-cost state pension systems in the country, and employees pay half (currently 13.5 percent of salary) of their pension cost, with growth on investment covering the bulk of the cost. And, for every $1 of taxpayer money invested, the economy receives $3.30 in benefits from retiree’s input back into the economy!

Nevada doesn’t need a Wall-Street-based bill to destroy a great system that’s currently a win-win-win for all Nevadans. Let’s not get conned again by Wall Street.

Ann Summers

Carson City

Lyon needs a swimming pool

For a small town, Dayton has many assets. We have beauty shops, stores, restaurants, churches, casinos, a library, and elementary, intermediate and high schools here. What we don’t have in Dayton is a common place for people of every age to enjoy. Wouldn’t it be great for Lyon County if we had an outdoor, indoor swimming pool? It would be a place for the young and older people to meet, exercise and learn.

Ilene Whitemore

Dayton

Legislature pushing bills taxpayers don’t want

So, you skimp and save, make every sacrifice a responsible adult should to get a little ahead against a rainy day, only then some tough with a gun comes along and takes it from you. Now apply the same analogy to the Legislature in its ploy to unincorporate the city of Ely, let alone what it is trying to pull with this governor’s version of the margins tax, with enhancements, against our will, and don’t be fooled.

No matter how they try to paint it, these people are no more than common criminals. Just with the armed robber you might call the police and get some satisfaction, but who will protect you from the government thug?

Kelly Jones

Carson City

Reid fought obstructionism

In response to the letter to the editor by Gretchen Godfrey on April 1, if obstructing legislation is the benchmark for being the worst senator in history, then Mitch McConnell has Harry Reid beat by a country mile.

During his eight years as Senate Minority Leader, McConnell led more than 600 filibusters in the U.S. Senate. He didn’t just break the all-time filibuster record for a single session of Congress, he more than doubled it.

Let’s note the vast majority of the 300 Republican House bills that Reid didn’t bring up for a vote would never have passed. They simply didn’t have the votes in the Democratic-controlled Senate. And even if any of them did pass, they did not have two-thirds majority support to override the likely veto from President Obama. Reid was right not to waste the Senate’s time scheduling votes on legislation that would never become law.

On the other hand, the vast majority of measures that McConnell filibustered would have passed. That’s why McConnell used the filibuster, a tool that minority parties use to stop legislation even though it has majority support. It was this unprecedented obstructionism that led Reid to change the filibuster rules.

Contrary to the letter, Reid will go down as the senator who did the most to fight obstructionism.

The Harry haters need to come up with something more factual to explain their views.

Marty McGarry

Carson City