Government sold to highest bidder
On Thursday, Jan. 21, the Supreme Court, in a landmark 5-4 decision, essentially decreed that there is no limit to corporate funding of elections. The court, for all intent and purposes, obliterated “We the people.” It will be no more.
The implications could not be clearer. It is the corporation that now reigns supreme in America. We need no longer wonder if our officeholders are beholden to the corporate interests that bankroll their campaigns. The Supreme Court has made it official.
This decision allowing unlimited corporate cash to buy unlimited political power through unlimited political spending is one of the greatest single attacks on democracy in the history of American jurisprudence and one of the single greatest demonstrations of contempt for legal precedent in the history of the United States Supreme Court.
We need no longer wonder if the decisions “our” elected representatives make “seem” to go to the benefit of their corporate sponsors rather than to the interests of the people. Now we know for certain that our government has been sold to the highest bidder.
JOSEPH PARKO
Crossville, Tenn.
Use right words to encourage
The recent media coverage of a high profile government official using destructive, hurtful and damaging words (e.g. the “R” word) to get his point across has been of particular interest to the Orange Grove Center.
Helping the community to understand, accept and appreciate people with intellectual disabilities is the quintessential component of Orange Grove’s mission. We are constantly espousing language and speech that promote respect for people of all abilities.
Some words can clearly cause pain and destruction while the right words can create encouragement and inspiration. Hopefully, this untoward event will heighten everyone’s awareness of just how hurtful it can be to use words like “retard” and the epithet “retarded.” It’s just not funny and often reveals what is actually in people’s hearts.
I encourage everyone to make a pledge to never use the “R” word. Just go to http://www.r-word.org and make the pledge to never use the word. So far 58,112 Americans have so pledged.
KYLE HAUTH
Orange Grove Center
Many Americans have had enough
After reading Clay Bennett’s cartoon (Feb. 7) I was once again surprised by how out of touch many Progressives are. The contempt and disdain for the opinions of American citizens portrayed in his cartoon are common place with this group who have tried to hijack the Democratic Party.
It would seem that the recent elections in several states and the inability of the governing powers in Washington, D.C., to accomplish the people’s work should give a clue to the clueless that many Americans have had enough.
The basic and common sense ideas presented by average people in the Tea Party Movement should give the Republican and Democratic parties reason to stop and listen instead of trying to load us down with more big government programs we cannot afford. It may be time for a real change, a change back to government by and for the people.
ROBERT SHELTON
Shelby’s actions show reform need
From the article in the Times Free Press on Feb. 6, it is clear Sen. Richard Shelby is trying to blackmail the country. I cannot understand how the Senate would pass or abide by unconstitutional rule in the Senate that allows one lone senator to hold up everything plus have to have 60 votes, not just a majority, to pass anything. The Senate should abolish these rules and restore our government.
I would think that if Sen. Shelby was in any other line of work he would be arrested and indicted for this crime. Of course, many people outside the state of Alabama think he has been unbalanced for years.
KEITH BALLEW
Copperhill, Tenn.
Don’t tie hands of the CHA
The Chattanooga Housing Authority wants to put 36 units (scaled back from 48 at the request of the neighbors) at the Fairmount Avenue Apartments Complex where there are 28 units now. These units will be “refurbished and re-rented” if they are not replaced. The new plan would only add eight units, which would hardly add “50 to 100 people” as Pete Lapina (Friends of Fairmount) suggests.
These would be “green” apartments, improving the environment with new regulations to keep out undesirable tenants. The $4,800,000 in federal grant money is nothing to sneeze at, and it would certainly improve employment opportunities for construction workers in the area.
We cannot expect CHA to make the best use of our resources if we tie its hands. The fact that the population in the neighborhood has doubled in the last five years is not the fault of the CHA. They have been there since 1977, and people moving to the area must have realized that if all of the existing units were occupied, they would be living in a congested area.
It sounds like a bad case of “NIMBY” to me.
SHARON LEE JONES
Hixson
Do something about health care
My wife and I completed our business plan and income tax return this week. We learned we must trim our middle class budget by $30,000 this year or face delinquencies, a daunting feat as you may have guessed. We have become one of a growing number of American families who cannot afford medical insurance any more.
Part of the problem is that our business dropped off considerably last year. The other part is that products we buy haven’t seen the same kind of drop. In fact, what’s up with gasoline and health care? These are two major expenditures that actually increased in price.
Health care rose to $2.5 trillion in 2009 to about $8,000 per person. Rather than dropping in price, it’s expected to double in the next nine years — $16,000 per year for medical insurance!
Something has to be done about this. It’s extravagance and even unconscionable. You and I are not in a position to do anything except let it go on and allow it to eventually collapse of its own accord, reminiscent of the banking crisis. Instead, we must rely on our do-nothing, obstructionist congressmen to offer a working solution and start cooperating with the majority to get us some help!
STEPHEN SIMPSON
Hixson
Health coverage a must for all
Health care coverage should be mandatory for all because maintaining people without health insurance costs everyone. Health care coverage should be universal because the quality of health care is adversely affected for everyone by those who are uninsured. Enough said.
SUSAN YARBOROUGH
Calhoun, Ga.
Knox statements disqualify him
Recently I heard that President Barack Obama appointed a Mr. Harry Knox to a council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This is a faith-based initiative. But is Mr. Knox really the right pick? He is quoted as saying that Pope Benedict XVI’s stance against condom usage is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.” Mr. Knox feels the “facts” prove that condoms prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS. Well, there are an awful lot of universities such as UCLA which have done studies that say condoms do not prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS. Heck, the condom companies admit that!
This is not the first time Mr. Knox has insulted the church, or the Holy Father, either. Everything about this man reeks of anti-Catholicism. My question is this: “Why aren’t more people upset about this?” If comments like these had been made about any other religion, there would be a massive outcry. But, apparently, it’s acceptable to insult the Catholic Church.
All those liberals who claim to be so open-minded, fair, sensitive to others, and balanced … Oh, wait a minute. That doesn’t apply to Catholics, does it? Oops, my bad.
DAVID POLLARD
East Ridge