Letters to the editor for Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016

Electoral College in Nevada

Having just read Guy Farmer’s article concerning the electoral college, it seems to me we need something akin to this in Nevada.

After this last national election has been completed, it has become clear to me that the votes in two counties are all that count, Clark and Washoe. The rest of the counties have become irrelevant in the elections.

This problem should be evaluated by the state legislature and a fair way for all counties to be represented.

Bob Higgins

Gardnerville

Catmandu goes above and beyond

I recently utilized Catmandu (Linda Buchanan and Cathy Rodgers) and we are so thankful for them. My family and I call them our angels!

We needed their help when we discovered a mama cat and her litter of five kittens in our backyard shed. I called them Sunday evening and spoke with Linda and by first thing Tuesday morning, Dec. 6, she had contacted expert trapper, Cathy Rodgers. Cathy arrived by 9 a.m. that very day and set traps. Right away, she caught mama and four out of five kittens.

Cathy was on a mission to catch the last baby and even though she lives in Reno and it was freezing, she remained until 9 p.m. that night trying to catch the last kitten. When all attempts failed, she left the trap covered in layers of blankets.

Finally Wednesday evening, Dec. 7, baby No. 5 was caught and we were able to deliver him to Catmandu to join his siblings! Mama went to NHS, but Linda went out of her way to get her and place her with her babies at Catmandu, a true testament to the kind of character she possesses.

These two women go above and beyond! These angels and their services are a blessing to Carson City and surrounding communities. We are thankful to have had the privilege to help give these animals a start to wonderful lives and to have been able to work with Linda, Cathy and Catmandu.

Dana Carvin

Carson City

Time to democratize the Electoral College

On Monday, December 19, the next President of the United States will be chosen by the Electoral College. According to Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” This formula resulted from a series of compromises reached between large and small, free and slave states at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Though that obviously flies in the face of the “We the People” ideal, it is no more likely to be removed from the Constitution than the provision giving small states the same representation as big states in the United States Senate.

For believers in democratic governance, there is an alternative. Since the Constitution allows electors to be chosen by states “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct,” Nevada’s legislature has the option of joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which has already been adopted by 10 states that together represent 61.1 percent of the votes needed to elect a president.

Under the Compact, Nevada would agree to assign its electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. Obviously that would result in the Silver State getting a lot less attention from presidential candidates every four years, but I believe it deserves support from Nevadans who, like me, think of themselves as Americans first.

Rich Dunn

Carson City

Some Republicans are boorish winners

In response to Don Gurney’s letter to the editor on Dec. 3, he rips Hillary supporters as uninformed, irresponsible and immature while taking a victory lap for the second coming of Ronald Reagan, our savior Donald Trump.

He hasn’t even taken office yet but he’s saved us already. Oh, by the way, the stock market is at all time highs, unemployment is at the lowest rate in eight years along with a robust housing market. You can’t even remember eight years ago when we were losing 300,000 jobs a month before Obama took office.

While I agree not everything under the current administration has been perfect (Obamacare is a joke), but it is exactly your type of divisive rhetoric that makes one-time Republicans like me register as Independents. Wouldn’t now be a good time to take the high road and just enjoy that your guy won? I will give our president my support because he won fair and square, but enough of the far right-wing gloating. It doesn’t help the country heal in any way.

Wally Lasuer

Minden