Don’t believe liberals’ promises
Did you pick up on Obama’s EPA comment the day after the election? When asked if he would do something about terrible EPA rulings that don’t really help the environment but cost lots of money and cause enormous harm to the economy, his excuse for no action was that there is a court ruling.
When we elect liberals, they appoint far-left judges whose rulings will be extreme left wing. The last Supreme Court judge has been quoted as in favor of using international law in some cases. This is what we get when we are too quick to believe the liberal promises. They will control each detail of life if they can. So we end up with a miserable life with no individual freedom at all.
On another front, according to the reports, the Obama administration has presented Israeli’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a plan for Israel to cede its rights to eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians. It would then lease the areas from the Palestinians for a time. After that limited time, the land would then be under total Arab control.
CLINTON GRANT
Rossville
Election a call to change policies
The Republicans should not be too hasty crowing about the election results. Republicans won only because they were not Democrats. President Obama has done nothing about jobs — the key issue for American voters.
As Phillip Dennis noted, this election told the Democrats that they did not approve of expanded government programs with large price tags such as bailouts, the stimulus bill, Cash for Clunkers, cap and trade and “ObamaCare.”
President Bush was a spender, but President Obama has outspent him!
The Democrats mistook their victory in 2008 as a mandate to lead America into a European style of social democracy. The Republicans should not take this election as a victory, but as a wake-up call to return to the tea party policies of smaller government, balanced budget and fiscal responsibility. Leave the American small businesses alone and they will bring our jobs back.
GERALD WHITELY
Ringgold, Ga.
City still held back by homelessness
I watched and read with interest the recent documentation and historical journal, “Chattanooga’s Heroic Drive: The History of a Renaissance.” It is the story of Chattanooga’s “Phoenix-like rise” out of urban decay and the “Dark Days” of visible pollution to become a nationally noted, midsized city. Hundreds of millions of dollars and considerable political effort have gone into making Chattanooga a “gem of the South.” We should all be proud of the accomplishments.
Problem is, there is one huge caveat that comes with this pride of ownership. When I have driven downtown on recent cold evenings and see the numbers of homeless people huddled in Miller Park and at the library, I cannot help but think that our “Dark Days” are still at hand.
Time is “now” for the people of Chattanooga, especially our political and corporate leadership, to pull out all the stops and end homelessness and poverty in Chattanooga. Only when this happens, will Chattanooga be a great city, a truly blessed, risen Phoenix.
JEFF CAMPBELL
Lookout Mountain
Drug-testing idea good step to take
The Cleveland Board of Education should be commended for considering random drug testing for voluntary extracurricular activities. With the raging drug problem in Tennessee, it’s important for everyone with the ability to influence kids to do so in a positive way. The school system is in a crucial authoritative position that can really deter kids from doing drugs, especially when something they love is at stake.
The board’s desire to make sure the program they choose to implement is effective and covered financially shows their dedication to the cause. A haphazard program certainly will not do anything to help, but a program that is well thought out can make a big difference by providing students extra incentive to avoid drug use in favor of focusing on the extra-curriculars.
Yes, it involves record keeping, financing and defining terms, but this shouldn’t discourage the board. With some creative approaches, these problems can be solved. Perhaps charging a small fee for each extracurricular activity to help offset the costs of the testing or finding an organization to donate counseling services. Hopefully the tests would deter students from using drugs and the number needing counseling would be small. The benefits would far outweigh the perceived burdens of this program.
KAVITHA REDDY
Athens, Tenn.
Road closure creates hazards
Re: “Ridgeside offers welcoming locale” (letter, Nov. 5). The Chattanooga side of North Seminole Drive, sealed off by Ridgeside, is now hazardous. The arbitrary road closure does not incorporate a turnaround design. Neighbors have witnessed several fire engines trapped; I witnessed a paramedic treating a patient as the ambulance driver tried with difficulty to turn around. Would a few minutes delay make any difference to a stroke patient? Hmm.
When visitors, delivery trucks and residents park in the middle of the now “dead” end, the mail carrier has to get out of her truck to deliver mail; the garbage truck cannot turn around and therefore must roll backwards toward a hairpin turn and return backwards in order to service both sides of the street; and the big brush truck must try to maneuver backwards uphill.
The questionable legality of the truncation of North Seminole Drive is diminished by a larger issue: the questionable judgment of cutting off a through street with no regard for the safety and well-being of the community at large.
JACQUELYN ROGERS
Family employees provide loyalty
After I graduated from high school, I went to work for the Southern Railroad. My brother went to work for the railroad. Our dad worked for the Southern Railroad. We had several uncles and cousins who worked for the railroad until their retirement. I know several people who worked for DuPont who had brothers and family working there.
The same can be said of TVA, the Electric Power Board, and lots from the former Combustion Engineering plant. Such is life.
One writer wrote in to say that Hamilton County Clerk “Bill Knowles should be congratulated for his years of public service,” and I agree. I have known Bill for over 60 years. He is a dedicated Christian gentleman who loves the Lord. I have noticed, there seems to be a certain amount of loyalty that comes from family employees as opposed to other employees, in any profession.
I have told Bill on several occasions that he is the only person I know of who could run for the office of president and be unopposed.
To those of you who have written negative remarks, whatever you do, don’t ever send a personal e-mail on a company computer, on company time. Here is a quote from Dr. Warren Wiersbe: “Empty barrels make the most noise.”
HENRY THOMPSON
East Ridge
Monitor activities of U.S. leaders
After nearly two years of change we cannot believe in, American patriots had enough and voted en masse to turn a corrupt progressive government out. As President Obama reminded us in one of his many let-them- eat-cake lectures, “elections have consequences.”
Take these two things from this election.
This was not an endorsement of the Republican Party but rejections of the progressive big government spend-and-tax policies of both parties.
Defenders of our Constitution must never go to sleep again; we must continue to monitor the activities of those in Washington, for they cannot be trusted.
Today our republic is roughly divided between two separate groups.
One group feels that the government should provide for their every need but they should not be asked to contribute toward their well-being or for the benefits the government provides. They have “no skin in the game.”
The other group believes that each individual is responsible for themselves and their families. They work hard to obtain a better life for their loved ones. They do not mind paying fair taxes or giving a hand up to those who are truly needy, but of late our patience wears thin.
JERRY HENDERSON
Cleveland, Tenn.