State the reasons for replacing Obama
Today I want to play a game called "Convince Brandon why I should vote for a Republican candidate."
I hear some of my friends continuously complaining about the current president and offering just a party change but no viable candidate.
Please tell me why and which one of those clowns running for the Republican candidacy should replace President Obama in the upcoming election.
Tell me how you think they can run the country any better than it is being run now.
Tell me how this candidate will move the country in the direction to help our generation and the generations to come after prosper, not perpetuate wealth of those "earned" before us who continue to tell us to blame each other for our failures.
Please keep in mind I am using my current tax bracket, not my parents' or the one I plan on being in within 15 years.
So take a look at your taxes. If you either 1) got back money this year or 2) made less than around $75,000 this year, and you are wanting to change horses midstream, I please ask that you reconsider your vote. Or convince me.
BRANDON MAYES
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We must cut back to aid oil situation
Republican primary candidates attack Obama over oil price rises, actually caused by Iran's stepped-up nuclear intentions and Japan's sudden increased demand. This is Obama's fault?
Decades ago, Europe enacted high gasoline taxes to force people into driving smaller cars, using public transportation and walking more. We elected not to do that and now are paying the consequences.
Republicans also criticize Obama for not opening up more areas in the U.S to exploration. But if he were to do that today, the effects on the economy wouldn't be felt for eight to 10 years.
The only realistic, long-term answer is to discipline ourselves to use less petroleum and to develop alternative energy sources, not an easy or quick fix, but a viable one. But Republicans have consistently opposed both strategies.
GOP big contributors are heavily invested in oil. The Bush dynasty's four-generational ties to oil are as deep as their off-shore wells. And where did Dick Cheney make his millions?
As long as we, with only 3 percent of the world's population and 2 percent of its oil reserves, consume 25 percent of the planet's total energy and 20 percent of its oil, the present situation can only worsen.
GEORGE B. REED JR., Rossville, Ga.
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Officers thwart gun-rights use
Due to poor officer training, it is dangerous for citizens to exercise their Legislature-encouraged gun rights.
Recently my son observed a Corvette driving at 70 mph down his residential, two-lane, no-sidewalk street. He was at his mailbox on the street when the Corvette came back at a more moderate speed. He flagged them down by hand to discuss the danger to his and other children.
After a short rational discussion, the driver lurched the 'Vette as if to run over my son in an attempt to end the conversation, at which time my son drew his pistol in self-defense.
The driver went to his house and called 911, as did my son.
Five county officers soon appeared with their guns drawn and arrested my son at his house, despite him relating the above to the officers. When the matter made General Sessions Court several months later, the passenger/owner of the 'Vette admitted the truth and the two aggravated assault charges were essentially dismissed.
Gun rights are a bad idea now made popular, but rights are meaningless if misapplied or thwarted by law officers with insufficient training.
DICK TEETER
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Jackson, Sharpton are just phonies
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton claim to be reverends, but (you) never hear about the churches of which they are pastors.
Who pays for them to fly around the country stirring up controversy? In my opinion, people like these so-called reverends are the greatest force to keep some in the black population in a cycle of oppression, a cycle of relying on others to support them, and this includes all races. This is taking away their pride in being a part of the American dream.
They do not encourage folks to get work and be a part of society, but keep them on a cycle of dependence. The sooner they shun these charlatans, the sooner they can get their pride back and be a participant of our society.
They need role models, not these phonies.
JACK PINE, Dunlap, Tenn.
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Make the ticket Romney-Santorum
The last time a Republican nominee for president defeated a sitting Democrat president was in 1980 -- when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in a landslide and Republicans took control of the Senate.
I was at that convention in Detroit and remember watching from the gallery as Reagan welcomed his new running mate to the podium. George H.W. Bush had defeated Reagan in the Iowa caucus and had the second highest number of delegates after Reagan.
Even though I did not vote for either Romney or Santorum in the Tennessee primary, I think now is the time for our Grand Old Party to unify behind a Romney-Santorum ticket and defeat Barack Obama just as soundly as we beat Jimmy Carter 32 years ago.
JOHN McROY DAVIES, Signal Mountain
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Not all problems require a law
In reference to proposed legislation prohibiting dogs from riding on their owners' laps, I have a piece of advice for our legislators: "Not every problem requires a law."
If they would review this in their mind every time they come up with a bright idea, perhaps the people would be spared the burden of excessive government regulation of every facet of our lives.
STEVE PETARRA, Signal Mountain
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Make greenway easier to find
My family happily visited your lovely city for three days. One of the main reasons we visited was to be able to bicycle on your riverfront greenway.
We stayed downtown near the children's Creative Discovery Museum.
At our first attempt to find your greenways we crossed a bridge and came back on another near the Hunter Art Museum. After asking many locals, one pointed that it was somewhere nearby.
We went back the next day after trying to research it on various websites and rolled our bikes up to the front of the museum, where a group of walkers pointed us around the museum and down a hill.
We think that your greenway is fabulous and a key reason for families to come to Chattanooga.
Maybe you all could describe a better way of finding this greenway?
Believe it or not, it is not obvious and easy to find like all your other downtown stops.
We had a great time, and I posted on Facebook to over 700 friends in Asheville that your town is the best nearby getaway for families!
HONOR MOOR, Asheville, N.C.
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Japanese offer food for thought
McDonald's just closed 535 restaurants in Japan. The Japanese people have apparently decided to go back to the Japanese diet.
Why? As they started eating "American" food, their society acquired the following:
Arthritis, obesity, heart disease, strokes, cancer, high cholesterol, hardening of the arteries and "zits."
These problems did not exist, or were very rare, before changing to American "fast food."
There is proof that by the time our children reach the age of 10, they show signs of hardening of the arteries.
I just finished a meal from Burger King. For a change, I ordered onion rings. I got something that looked like an onion ring. It was a ring, and it was fried, but it was not an onion ring. This was fried "something."
What happened to "truth in advertising"? And what has happened to our food supply?
It is being destroyed in the name of profit. Most beef cattle raised in this country are raised to meet the specifications for McDonald's hamburgers, whatever that is.
"Suicide by cop," "Suicide by food," one just takes longer.
Food for thought.
STEVEN SMITH