Chattanooga shows common sense with higher smog standards
Once again our policymakers have failed to fully heed the warning of the scientific and medical community, choosing not to adopt the lower recommended smog standard of 60 ppb.
It is not only a moral imperative that we act to better protect the most vulnerable members of our community, but it also makes economic sense in terms of health care costs and workforce participation.
While the EPA's somewhat stifled response is disappointing, we can at least take comfort that it is a large step in the right direction.
I congratulate Mayor Andy Berke for his support for new smog standards and hope that Chattanooga leaders will continue to show such common sense support for clean air initiatives into the future.
Kelly Grant, Lookout Mountain
Money not answer to pre-K issues
I am incensed by the article in Tuesday's paper about pre-K in Tennessee. If the study shows the program is not providing the benefits that were expected, the normal response would be to reduce or cancel the program and try something else with those teachers and that money. However, that is not the response of our politicians. According to the article, the problem is we are not spending enough money. Of course, if the study had shown that the program was highly effective, they also would want to spend more money on it.
Jim Tahler, Chickamauga, Ga.
'Broad' Street needs new name
The worst project in Chattanooga is the new bicycle lane work on Broad. Street parking will be changed from angled to parallel, causing a 40 percent loss of spaces. Downtown traffic is bad enough without losing two valuable lanes on Broad. All the parking meters will have to be moved, too. Businesses on Broad will be negatively affected.
Studies show that bike lanes make for a friendlier city and improve activity and participation. In those studies, population density is much greater, and there are many shops and businesses where people can bike to work. I cannot imagine that tourists or locals will bike to Hennens, Big River, Bluewater or Easy Bistro for a nice evening meal.
We are a tourist destination. Easier traffic flow, increased shuttle transportation, paved streets and more parking will encourage more visitors and locals to support downtown businesses. What happened to common sense?
I guess when this project is complete we need to change the name from Broad to Narrow Street!
Charlie Danner
Use common sense during campaign
The U.S. Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to make their own decisions. That document is defended by American veterans. My only wish is for these decisions to be tempered with common sense. People say presidential candidate Donald Trump "tells it like it is!" No, he doesn't, because he "doesn't know how it is."
Donald Trump is a narcissistic, egotistical megalomaniac who has yet to tell us how he is going to accomplish all of the impossible things that he claims he will do.
Come on people, regardless of party, pick a candidate who at least sounds believable (and not Hillary).
John M. Woodham, East Ridge
Liberal policies are utter failure
Amen to the Sept. 23 writer of the letter titled "Poverty will be same in 50 years." I've seen liberal policies fail for 70 years. They are not well thought out and only use "knee jerk" emotions as a guide. I've seen them fail over and over again.
Ann Miller
GOP will bring 'doom and gloom'
If you listen to Fox News and Republican politicians, you would think our country is on the verge of collapse. Where is all the "gloom and doom" they have been predicting the last seven years?
Every time Democrats try to help middle and lower income families, the Republicans fight it tooth and nail. They say it will ruin our economy and kill jobs, but what do they know about either?
In 2008, after eight years of Bush Jr., we were in the worst economy since the Great Depression. The stock market was under 7,000 and sinking every day. We were losing 700,000 jobs a month, banks were closing, foreclosures, bankruptcies and deficits were at record highs.
The real "gloom and doom" will come when enough Republicans get in office to cut Social Security, Medicare, V.A. benefits and education, and they give the money to the wealthiest people in the country.
Stephen Borders Sr., Hixson
Obama, pope share goals
I was struck by the incongruence of your Bible Wisdom quote and the political cartoon you ran on Tuesday. The Bible wisdom is totally lost when you print a cartoon accusing Obama of going in a different direction from the Pope's address to Congress. If you Google "text of the Pope's address to Congress" and actually read it, you will see that the Pope's "gospel" and Obama's "agenda" are very similar.
The Pope said, "All political activity must serve and promote the good of the human person and be based on respect for his or her dignity. If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance. Politics is, indeed, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good ." When we are willing to listen, we hear that Obama has expressed this many times in his bills to Congress, speeches to the nation and with leaders around the world.
If they agree, and they do, how can one be a herald of the gospel and the other a dictator?
Peggy Cleveland, McCaysville, Ga.
Vote for one who follows Jesus
On Sept. 26, Donald Trump said, "I believe in the Bible" as he waved it in his hand. But he obviously does not know what is in it. He said he has never asked God for forgiveness and described communion as "my little wine and my little cracker."
It is required of those who receive the Lord's supper to examine themselves as to their faith and repentance, lest they eat and drink judgment on themselves. Mr. Trump falls in this category. He never mentions the Lord Jesus, and it is His supper. Read I Corinthians 11:27-29.
My prayer is that the Christians in America will take a stand, vote for and nominate those who will follow the Lord, turn from their wicked ways and pray so that God will heal our land (II Chronicles 7:14).
Marge McNutt, Signal Mountain
Big businesses not benevolent
Volkswagen is just the latest example of the inability of large corporations to act in the best interests of people. Like the tobacco, chemical and mortgage companies, Volkswagen did its best to avoid regulations that protect people from the harmful effects of big business, i.e., ingestion of carcinogens that cause illness and death, polluted and degraded environments.
The bottom line of any corporation is profit. Now that they have the right of "corporate personhood," corporations have protections (meant only for people) that make it easy for them to evade regulators and harder for "We the People" to be protected.
Yes, Volkswagen is polluting the air we breathe. Don't complain, wake up to the fact that large corporations are not benevolent entities. They are out to make a profit despite human or environmental costs. It's up to you and me to protect ourselves from their shenanigans by supporting government regulations and enforcement and by removing the "right" of corporate personhood.
Judith Pedersen-Benn