State must require E-Verify system

State must require E-Verify system

I address one of several inaccuracies in Perla Trevizo's July 24 story "States get tough on illegal immigration."

Tennessee didn't pass any law requiring employers to verify anyone's authorization to work in this country. Our state legislators passed a hiring law this year and spent a lot of time trying to fool us about it.

Tennessee doesn't require that any employer - not even the state - use the federal E-Verify system or verify any documents that prospective hires show in work authorization.

Driver's licenses aren't proof of work authorization. Illegal aliens have obtained Tennessee driver's licenses, though they aren't supposed to get them. Some lawfully present foreign nationals can legally obtain driver's licenses yet be unauthorized to work here.

Tennessee's laws are written as loopholes for the business lobby, as an enabler to illegal labor.

Tennessee is a jackpot for illegal labor, because your Legislature and governors have wanted it that way. States around us are mandating use of E-Verify and passing other laws. Illegal labor will migrate here.

Aside from jobs losses, we, with tax dollars, subsidize low-wage illegal labor and the profits of its employers.

Work authorization must be E-Verified, and the state must require this of all employers. Tennessee does not.

DONNA LOCKE

Columbia, Tenn.

Our people come first

Your article July 24 really made me mad.

Why not pictures of the elderly, hungry children, children without shoes, parents unable to have medical attention - no dentists.

Charity begins at home!

These people came over here, took jobs, filled our jails, pay not one tax, have free medical, marry women here or live with them for the chance to stay.

Our people come first!

What are you thinking - not about America.

I sure haven't seen a front page for the Americans.

BECKY SMITH

Trenton, Ga.

President shows who he really is

As a widow of 24 years and a Social Security recipient, I feel I must respond to the youth of the country.

I paid into Social Security for five decades as mandated by the federal government, and into Medicare from 1965 to retirement in 2003.

That would be two years less than four decades as mandated by the federal government.

This was required after the IRS took out those taxes.

As all seniors that have paid and paid, I resent the media implying we are deadbeats because we expect the government to stand by the law.

Most of us are too frail and many of us are alone. But once again the president threatens the seniors' Social Security.

Attacking one section of the most vulnerable citizens, this is an open indication of the type of man he is. And he is working toward failure of our government and Constitution as desired by his socialist friends in the White House.

The populace elected him; they deserve everything that's coming.

GAIL B. HUDSON

U.S. credit default would be serious

As Aug. 2 approaches, media pundits glibly debate whether or not the stock market and individuals' 401(k) plans might be adversely impacted if a compromise over the debt limit talks is not achieved.

How naïve! When Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, defaulting on their bondholders notes in 2008, the financial system reacted swiftly and painfully, the trickle-down corporate banking debacle being felt nationally.

In the case of sovereign as opposed to corporate debt, one need look no further than the small country of Greece to gauge the impact upon bond values, interest rates, consumer prices and societal collapse when there is perceived danger in the international credit markets.

The bond market, which dwarfs the stock market, would react swiftly and terribly to any hint of a credit default on the part of the world's biggest creditor nation.

Mutual funds, holding Treasuries in their portfolio, will if those values decline per their charters, liquidate holdings, perhaps at fire-sale prices, forcing some to "break the buck," adding yet another layer to the financial meltdown.

The effect of a U.S. national credit default would ripple throughout financial markets not merely nationally but internationally wreaking irreparable damage for years to come.

MICHAEL JAMES ZEMA

Yes to bridge, no to tolls

About the story on a toll bridge on Tuesday, July 19:

After reading that a "$5 per toll may not be that high." Are you kidding me?

That is too much! Is this a plan to build a ridiculously fancy modern "San Francisco" Golden Gate bridge that a cruise ship can go under without lowering its chimney?

Please, those who think "$5" ain't that bad, go to the toll area and pay $5, then tell us what you think!

Also, we do not want to set the first example in Tennessee to establish a toll. Once it starts it would spread all over Tennessee. Do you want to pay "$5" at every bridge stop?

Secondly, this bridge is a beginning of "loophole" around Chattanooga. That would balance traffic flow, which is great news. Do Atlanta's or Nashville's or even Macon's "loophole" charge $5?

I am sure that there are many underpasses or passable bridges on those loopholes in any metropolitan (area) than just the proposed toll bridge here.

Yes, to the bridge and the beginning of a loophole. Say no to tolls!

JOHN JOHNSON

Hixson

Davenport treated others with class

On Tuesday (July 26), Chattanooga lost one of the visionaries for this city.

I had the privilege and honor of working with Rody "Big Rody" Davenport at his company for 13 years.

Rody treated all of his employees as a part of his bigger Krystal family.

The most caring person I have ever known, Rody would visit his restaurants, and the first people he wanted to talk to were the front cashiers. As he later related, the only people who made the company money were those front-line employees.

All the rest of us did was spend it.

As I reflect on my time with Rody, I remember a man who was humble, never too busy to listen to your idea or concerns, always looking toward the good of the Chattanooga community, and was ready to serve when asked.

Rody may have left us on Tuesday, but the lessons on how to respect and treat others with class and dignity will stay with those of us lucky enough to call him friend and boss for the rest of our lives.

DOUGLAS CROCKETT

Harrison

Guatemala stories a shining example

The articles on Guatemalan immigrants by Perla Trevizo have been absolutely magnificent.

This is the quality of journalism normally found only in large city newspapers.

DAN AUDA

Many businesses 'buy' desperation

Tax reformers and tea party activists insist that taxing the wealthiest hurts all of us because what they'd be paying in taxes would otherwise be invested in more job-producing businesses.

Some businesses in today's tough economy are not "selling" but rather "buying." Some demand exemption from taxation.

To entice businesses and jobs, states and communities sometimes surrender what would be their corporate tax revenue. But by not collecting these corporate taxes, public programs are put in jeopardy.

Amazon.com plays this game of political and economic hardball fiercely. It demands tax exemption and threatens relocation to another state or community if it doesn't get its way. By tying sales tax exemption to the jobs they can bring, they cost states and communities millions in revenue.

Such practices aren't "selling" the businesses to the communities in which they locate, but rather they are "buying" the desperation of those communities that want their citizens to make a decent living.

GRADY S. BURGNER

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