Support mayors to end public smoking
I'd like to thank the 10 Hamilton County mayors in the Oct. 13 story, "Hamilton Mayors Join Against Public Smoking."
Exposure to secondhand smoke is dangerous at any level. It increases one's risk for cancer, heart disease, stroke and other diseases and kills more than 42,000 Americans each year, including more than 7,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmoking adults. Tragically, tobacco use remains the most preventable cause of death in this country. It's time for a change that will save lives.
I hope your mayors are successful in getting voluntary compliance to their local policies and eventually getting local communities the authority to protect their citizens from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
It's hard to imagine that less than two decades ago you could smoke on an airplane. Let's do everything we can so that years from now, it will be hard to believe that anyone smoked at all.
Sincerely, Lynn Williams, Government Relations Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Nashville
Wage rise might ease tax burden, reduce welfare
I read with great sadness a newspaper writer's lament on increasing child poverty in the U.S. Could a minimum-wage law in Tennessee be the solution by putting more money into the hands of wage-earning parents? No, the latest statistics show 75 percent of those parents have no job.
Times are good. Unemployment is low. Why aren't they working? Is it because they make enough in government assistance so it doesn't make sense to get a low-wage job? Can having a state minimum-wage law keep these people off welfare while reducing the tax burden for the rest of us? It can if their benefits are cut off.
If the state stops supporting parents who are unemployed, it will send the message Tennessee no longer supports wasteful welfare. Do you want your tax money to continue to support kids having kids just to draw a check?
Go to moveon.org and sign the petition to get the Tennessee state legislature to put this issue on the ballot for voters to decide. Sign $10.10 for Tennessee. Let's bring prosperity back.
David Clark, Tullahoma, Tenn.
VW error confuses public
You have done a great disservice to the public with the glaring statistical error in a recent VW editorial (Times page, Oct. 11). If the cars "belch pollution in amounts up to 40 percent of the U.S. limit," they would be in fantastic shape and in no danger of violating U.S. requirements.
Perhaps what you meant is that they belch pollution in amounts up to 40 times the limit. This type of technical error is why many segments of the public tend to question the validity of scientific dogma put forth by "progressives" and does nothing to educate the public.
Jim Littlewood, Sequatchie, Tenn.
Hutcheson condition tragic for community
I worked more than 40 years as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in many area hospitals. One of the most rewarding places for me to work was at Hutcheson Medical Center. The nurses, doctors and other members of the medical team were some of the most professional and caring of any in my career. I am saddened to see the problems wrought on this institution by the administration's past decisions and apparent lack of wise oversight by the board. I feel the current administration has attempted to fix the problems, but the damage done is overwhelming. A tragic situation has been created both for the north Georgia community and the wonderful employees of Hutcheson.
Sally Scholze
Illegals anxious for piece of pie
With reference to Clay Bennett's cartoon "Capitalism as American as Apple Pie," isn't it amazing there are 11 million illegal aliens in the U.S. just to get a bite of that so called "Piece for Everyone Else." God bless America, the land of opportunity and its economic system.
Robert A. Reno, Ooltewah
Let's return U.S. to a nation for all
I grew up in a country made up of immigrants from all over the world. They came with a dream of a better life for their families. They embraced our traditions and customs and taught us theirs. But now, because of political correctness, we can't wear symbols of our faith on our clothing or put flags up. In some places, Nativity scenes during Christmas are not allowed.
Yet public officials and schools allow Muslims to have places to pray and to pray as many times a day as their religion requires. There are prisons that are not serving pork because it is forbidden in the Muslim faith. I hope I have respected all faiths, but I do not believe all faiths are being respected in this land of the free. Politically correct school officials and public officials should back off and give us all our space.
Elizabeth Seton, Hixson
Tax story needs opposing view
The Chattanooga Times Free Press provides an important service to its readers "to give the news impartially " So I would request you run an equally strong opposition article to the one you placed on the front page of the Oct. 17 paper titled "Experts say taxing the rich could go far toward solving nation's needs."
You could easily access such an article from the myriad of economic experts who write extensively on the detrimental effect higher taxes have on our economy and how they eventually hurt all citizens, especially the poor. If you truly want to provide the news impartially, I will look forward to seeing an opposing view on the front page of the paper. If you are trying to tell us how to think, that is a service certainly not worth the increasing subscription price of your paper.
Sandra Stuermer, Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Trump needs a new abortion response
There was a recent Q&A between Donald Trump and a young woman on the issue of abortion. The young woman said the government should not be allowed to dictate what she does with her body. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump was not strong enough with his reply that ended with: "I happen to be pro-life."
The reply should be something along the line of: "True, it is your body, and if you want to have elective surgery, the government has no right to interfere - except in the case of a pregnancy. Pregnancy involves another human life, and the government must protect that other life as strongly as it defends your own. That other life may not resemble a baby yet, but it is still human."
In all 50 states it is not legal to tattoo an individual younger than 18 without parental consent. Yet it is legal in some states for a girl younger than 18 to have the surgical procedure of abortion without parental consent. How illogical is that?
Dennis Urbaniak, Signal Mountain
When seconds count, guns protect people
With all due respect, anti-gun people simply don't know what they're talking about. A recent Sunday rant: The writer can't understand how guns protect anyone.
My response is an old saying: "When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away." Criminals who intend to hurt people go to gun-free zones knowing their victims are unarmed.
Just one person with a gun could have stopped the carnage in Oregon, a tragedy nonetheless. Guns do protect people and that is backed by a mountain of facts.
Daniel Warren
VW deceit makes brand unappealing
If Volkswagen wasn't honest about clean diesel cars, what else they were not honest about? What safety shortcuts would they take for a dollar? I wouldn't buy a Volkswagen if they were selling them for half price.
James Mosier, Whitwell, Tenn.