Closer look shows bottle-bill problems
As the owner of convenience stores in Cleveland, Tenn., I want to commend state Rep. Gerald McCormick for reading the fine print on the bottle bill legislation before his committee and questioning the rosy picture that supporters painted about the legislation.
Details in the legislation showed how bureaucratic, expensive and cumbersome it would be to keep track of the 5-cent deposit you would pay for every soft drink or bottle of beer.
In the initial phase, before specially marked containers can be manufactured, the container would need a sticker with a bar code to verify that a deposit has been paid. An estimated 4.3 billion beverage containers are used in Tennessee each year, according to the Legislature’s fiscal review note. If half of containers in the state need stickers, that’s 2.1 billion stickers that have to be printed, processed, applied for, paid for, and mailed. Even if only 10 percent of containers are covered by the law, that is 430 million containers that need stickers.
Attaching stickers on millions of cans and bottles is bureaucratic red tape that we don’t need.
I’m glad our local legislator read the fine print and hope he will say “no” to the bottle bill.
BRIAN COLLINS
COLLINS OIL CO.
Cleveland, Tenn.
Leave chicken fighters alone
Cock fighting is not a crime!
Game chickens are born to fight. You don’t train them to fight; it’s instinct to fight.
They raid a private fighting arena, take the money from the spectators who might not even be fighting, and confiscate the game chickens. They don’t find them homes or shelter. They don’t care. They’re not saving the game chickens; they’re killing them.
It’s a way for that county or state to make money. If the government could find a way to tax the money it would be legalized.
Something is wrong with our justice system. You turn your television on and watch ultimate fighting where two men fight to kill, full contact, blood going everywhere and the spectators are cheering them to see which one gets knocked out or even killed or left with brain damage. All for money.
If the government was getting a kickback and was able to tax chicken fights, it would be legalized. Leave these people alone. Spend more time going after the child molesters, the drug dealers, the driving while drunk, the domestic violence violators. That’s where our tax money should be going, and that’s what our law enforcement should be focusing on.
TERRY SAYLORS
Fort Oglethorpe
Real country music is back
I want to say thanks and welcome to our radio station 99.3, 97.3 classic country.
I’m so glad to hear some real true country music. I know that over time things have to change, but we are losing sight of our roots in the music world.
We’ve forgotten the ones who founded country music. This music that’s playing now isn’t country; it’s lacy prom, ballroom, high school music.
There’s nothing like turning on and listening to Patsy, Loretta, Tammy, Kitty and Merle Haggard, Bill Anderson, Floyd Cramer, Jim Reeves, Vern Gosdin, Hank Williams, etc.
Also we should remember our forefathers, such as the Louvin Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, Delmore Brothers, Bill Monroe, Jim and Jesse, etc.
So to all our true country music lovers, let’s say thanks to the manager and employees of classic country. They are planting the seeds and we are reaping good healthy crops of true country music.
Keep up the good work!
JERRY TAYLOR
Rossville
Don’t change rules in middle of game
We followed the required protocol voted by the school board in 2005, and over a year ago, my family called into Normal Park in order to get a spot in the 2010 pre-K program, which would grant her entrance into elementary school. She was guaranteed a spot, and we paid the deposit required. Now, a year later we are told that she is not guaranteed a spot into the school beyond pre-K due to the recent vote. We would have explored other options if we even knew this was a possibility! We did what we were told to do and now we are left high and dry! The Normal Park principal stated at the school board meeting that there is room for the additional 38 students and still room to grandfather in the 12 students who were already guaranteed spots. Why not do this?
I understand if you need to change the requirements and rules for future classes but you need to honor what was promised to us! It is completely unfair to change the rules at this point when all other schools are already full. What are we supposed to do now?
Please help!
COURTNEY
ALTFILLISCH
U.S. leaders violate oaths
Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and numerous congresspersons should be brought to trial for violation of their oaths of office.
The oath for senators and representatives is similar to the oath I swore when I entered the Navy, and you other ex-military personnel swore the same oath.
Pure and simple: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Instead, they have made themselves in violation of those oaths. I wish I had the money to hire lawyers to file suits against them myself.
WILLIAM P. CORBIN
Crossville, Tenn.
Collect old debts before adding fees
I am perplexed that city government is considering property tax and fee increases while failing to collect delinquent stormwater assessments and traffic fines. Who is accountable to enforce such debt collections? Why have unpaid debts of this magnitude been ignored by a government that never has enough income? Why should our citizens who dutifully honor their debt have to make up for those who ignore it without penalty?
In fairness to all concerned, perhaps we should refund all such collections and start again from scratch.
DAVID B. KAPLAN