Washington like 'The Hunger Games' and other letters to the editors

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Washington like 'The Hunger Games'

I saw a movie seemingly based upon our current political reality. It featured a capital city of enormous wealth with self-absorbed leaders who had forgotten the common man. Even worse, its president was corrupted to the point that he used power, lies and manipulation to divide and control the masses while he favored his friends and persecuted everyone else. "The Hunger Games" and Washington today: two peas in a pod.

EARL SHIPLEY, Ringgold, Ga.


Corker right about roads

I'm proud to see Sen. Bob Corker take the lead in addressing a long-term problem of financing road construction in the Congress. If you'll remember, former Gov. Lamar Alexander raised state gasoline taxes by a few cents/gallon, with the additional taxes dedicated to road construction and repair. The program has been so successful that CNBC rates the Tennessee road system as the second best in the nation, and the state road system doesn't have a penny of debt, per Sen. Corker. If the Tennessee system of financing road systems has been so successful, Washington would be foolish to ignore it. Imagine all the additional new jobs that could be created with a permanent proven solution, but will Congress cower down again and fail to act?

JOHN TEMPLE, East Ridge


Corker tax ill advised

As a follow-up to his support of an amnesty program for the millions of criminal aliens currently infesting our country, Sen. Bob Corker has launched another attack against the middle class -- a tax hike on the fuel we use to take us back and forth to work, so we can support the entitlement class and those in the public sector. Mr. Corker's proposal is to raise fuel taxes by 12 cents per gallon over the next two years. The current gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline, and the diesel tax is 24.4 cents a gallon. After the two years, the taxes would be indexed to keep pace with inflation. The increase in taxes would filter down to paving and construction companies (the primary beneficiaries of cheap immigrant labor), who stand to make billions from Mr. Corker's generosity (with our money). One is left to wonder whether Mr. Corker is capable of concern for the cow he is milking dry.

VENIZELOS CHIRON, Dayton, Tenn.