Letters to the Editors

Fix existing road; don't build new one

You wisely editorialized against Corridor K ("Forget highway boondoggles," Feb. 14, 2009). This project has now been revealed as the mother of all boondoggles. Option 8A, the option currently in favor, costs $320 million plus the cost of remediating acid rock. It saves exactly no minutes over making improvements in the existing road. These are TDOT's own numbers from Feb. 17.

TDOT claims it would take four to eight years to make improvements. But the most important improvement, widening the "trucker's curve," has taken only a few months. TDOT insisted for years that it simply could not be done.

Construction of a new road would destroy hundreds of acres of national forest and dozens of pristine mountain streams like Goforth Creek, beloved by both trout fishermen and kayakers, that supply the recovering Ocoee River with fresh water and living fish. Any new road will irreparably harm the beauty of the Ocoee Gorge, the area's major tourist attraction and economic engine.

Surely, the recent vote in the Tennessee Legislature in support of Corridor K was taken in ignorance of these facts. Fix the existing road and spend the rest of the money where it will do some good.

CLYDE HOLLER

Morganton, Ga.

Senators defeat help for seniors

On March 3, the Senate voted down a bill written by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., 50-47. The bill was for a massive $250 payment to seniors and disabled due to the increase in the cost of living.

Social Security payments for the elderly and disabled will stay flat this year for the first time since 1975 because they are tied to consumer prices, which decreased amid the worst economic recession in 70 years.

All Republicans in the Senate plus 10 Democrats voted to deny the $250 payment.

Our glorious Tennessee senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, voted to defeat the bill.

I have not found any proposal President Obama supported since his inauguration that I can support. This one bill was needed.

Back to our senators. It was stated that they had to watch the deficit; this would have cost $13 billion. The Congress, which is highly approved of, with President Obama, have spent over a trillion. TARP, Stimulus 1, GM, Chrysler, and I have lost count.

The seniors and disabled are looking at a $500 billion cut in Medicare. They have denied the cost of living Increase, the first ever. You would think the seniors and disabled were writing the bills based on the Congress response.

MITCHELL THURMER

Signal Mountain

Debates have little to do with reason

In letters to people like George Mason, Thomas Jefferson spoke of the new government as an experiment in progress -- to determine whether "men may be governed by reason and truth." He was optimistic, but the verdict was not in.

Evidence these days suggests the verdict is still not in. Indeed, many recent debates over issues such as Iraq and health care have had little to do with reason or truth.

(No matter. Going to war over weapons of mass destruction has nothing to do with whether there really are such weapons. Attacking health care reform over death panels has nothing to do with whether legislators are really proposing such panels.)

The dominant tenor of such debates is sophistry -- efforts to win with or without the facts. We have heard many arguments that seem to follow rational form but are invalid -- appeals to emotion, attacks against the person rather than the argument, caricatures to create weaker positions against which to argue.

This is a moral issue, not to mention whether it can ever be right for something like health care to be dependent on one's economic condition. It is immoral to disregard facts to try to win an argument.

BOYCE BRAWLEY

Leaders must carry out voter mandates

Concerning tax relief for seniors, still nothing has been done. County commissioner Curtis Adams is retiring without taking action on this important issue. Commissioner Bill Hullander is running for trustee and he has taken no action and will vacate this position with unfinished business.

My hope is that no one will vote for any commissioner to be re-elected, or for any running for election, if they choose not to do the business that they were elected to do. They should carry out the mandate that Hamilton County citizens voted overwhelmingly for them to do.

JAMES G. GRAHAM

Just don't think about unthinkable

We all know the song "Why me Lord? What did I ever do?" Many men, women and children have been killed recently in Haiti and Chile from the devastating earthquakes.

They should be asking the question, "Why me Lord?" These so-called "natural disasters" seem to be on the increase. I would like to ask a minister, is this the devil's work? Enough is enough, but sadly we have to expect more death and destruction, with the tornado season approaching. We ask ourselves, "How can we survive these killer tornadoes?'' The only real safe place is below ground level.

During the Cuban missile crisis, some people were building "fallout shelters." It's been said that you should go to your basement if you have one. The weather station has all kinds of survival tips. It would be nice to be able to afford an underground shelter, as it could very well serve a dual purpose because if North Korea and Iran continue to be a nuclear threat, an underground shelter would be the only safe place. I guess it's best not to think about the unthinkable.

Last but not least, "Rely on the power of prayer!"

RICHARD D. BLOOD

Ringgold, Ga.

Demand that Fed be held accountable

The House Financial Reform Bill includes the Audit the Fed Bill, designed to audit a government institution that has the power to print money out of thin air and manipulate the value of our currency in virtual secrecy.

More than two-thirds of the House co-signed the Audit the Fed bill, with nearly 80 percent of Americans agreeing the Federal Reserve needs the same rigorous transparency and accountability metrics in place as any other department of government.

In spite of overwhelming support among Americans of all political backgrounds, Sen. Bob Corker is working to remove the Audit the Fed transparency provisions from the Senate's version of the Financial Reform Bill.

This is not a conservative nor a liberal issue. Buoyed by common-sense support from the people, this is a bipartisan agreement stating that no government institution -- especially with as much power as the Fed holds -- should be free from accountability.

Shouldn't our government that only operates based on what it takes from us, be transparent and accountable to the people?

If you believe this is true, stand behind the majority of Americans and demand accountability and transparency from the Federal Reserve. Tell Sen. Corker not to remove the Audit the Fed provisions from the Financial Reform Bill.

DAVID DUFORD

City needs to stop back-door methods

I was not shocked to see that Mayor Ron Littlefield and the City Commission Squad had sued for the back fees.

What did shock me was when the mayor finally told everyone how it is done at City Hall (article Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tuesday, March 9 ). They sneak it through the back door (what's new there?).

We have always had drainage ditches, and the water has always run into the creeks and streams or into the river just like now, without fees.

And yes, they will most likely slip a property tax increase right through the back door, too. Sounds more like what is going on in Washington, D.C.

That needs stopping.

PHILLIP RAINS

Hixson