Let’s support homeless families
One thing I’ve noticed in the community is that many homeless parents are working multiple jobs to support their family, yet they still don’t make enough to secure stable housing.
The price of living has gone up tremendously since the pandemic because our economy has been hurt. While society has started to recover from COVID-19, many things have yet to return to normal. The value of items has risen since supply simply cannot meet rapid demand.
I know several people who have to work multiple jobs just to meet basic necessities in life. I have also met several hard-working people who don’t have a place to call home.
So even though there is a stigma of homeless people being lazy, that is not always the case. We need to work harder to support homeless families in Hamilton County.
Tyler Banks
Marching orders for Fleischmann
Rep. Fleischmann, you won your recent re-election, but we do not know you or what you stand for. You have not been a presence in Hamilton County. Your lack of campaigning here leads us to assume we are not part of your mission, which remains unclear. You now have another two years to convince us that we are the folks you represent.
Let me point out some issues we need for you to address: Stand up for our teachers and public schools. They are a most critical asset to the vitality of our community; Social Security and Medicare are lifesaving assets to a substantial segment of your constituents; support expansion of Medicaid or Tennessee citizens in need; remember all women deserve the right to their own medical and physical decision-making. You appear to be on the wrong side of this issue -- correct this.
Women matter, men matter and kids matter! You matter as our representative! Let us see and hear from you. We deserve your attention!
Irv Ginsburg
Other ideas for Republican agenda
Let me get this straight. In the recent elections, every Republican candidate focused on issues very important to their constituents: inflation, crime, right to life, to name just a few of the more important issues. The Republicans now have a small majority in the House of Representatives. Great! Now they can address all of these issues.
But wait, in recent news conferences by the Republican conference, they let all of us know that their agenda going into 2023 will be investigating Hunter Biden's laptop and impeaching Biden's Cabinet officials? Pathetic.
P.A. Taylor
Not happy couldn't vote on a Saturday
Today (Nov. 26), a voting day in the state of Georgia, I discovered that the doors are closed for freedom at the Catoosa County Freedom Center. It is a place where the hallowed and constitutional right to vote is to be cherished and protected. Unfortunately, county officials thought it best for citizens not to have their right to vote on a Saturday.
As I was waiting in the parking lot of the Freedom Center, several folks arrived to vote. They were hard-working people who needed this day to vote. They travel in their work, they help in adult care facilities, and they could not believe that the local politicians refused them access and the right to vote.
I cannot believe that I was denied the right to vote in the United States of America. Denied in my hometown. This is not freedom, and this is not right.
Bruce Sloan
Ringgold, Ga.
Disrespect solution: military schools
In the 1960s, I experienced the use of strong discipline in the military at the first sign of disrespect for authority in the Army at Fort Knox, Ky. A disruptive soldier found such action came at too high a price for a repeat violation.
It is clear our society has devolved into widespread disrespect of authority on both student and parent levels. This impairs the ability of those students and parents who want their children to learn in a constructive environment. Hence, the solution: Establish enclosed state military schools similar to Army training camps, separated, of course, by gender. The disruptive student's parent may be contacted once for a meeting to remedy the child's behavior or else. Furthermore, parental neglect of this kind should involve some form of punishment or sanction for neglect by the parent(s).
John F. Eary
Ringgold, Ga.
Walker candidacy is a racist ploy
Sunday's Free-Press "Runoff-Racist-Republican: ..." editorial employed many facts, but it jumped to a wrong conclusion. It bashed the racism of 1876-1970s "Solid South" Democrats but omitted any mention of the Republicans' "Southern strategy" used to lure whites disturbed with Democrats' support of civil rights measures into the GOP.
When they can, both parties align states' voting procedures to their own advantage rather than a more neutral approach. Certainly, some sort of runoff is necessary until someone has over 50% of those voting. Both parties have had their turns at engineering voting and runoff procedures with gerrymandering, changing registration procedures and early voting days and altering absentee voting measures.
So why did Georgia Republicans nominate Herschel Walker as their candidate for U.S. senator? Are there not more qualified Georgia Republicans? Apparently, their solution, a racist solution, was to find a well-known Black Georgian to run against and take Black votes from Raphael Warnock. Satisfied with their support from white voters, Walker's football fame, they thought, would win the votes of more Black Georgians (and Dawg fans of any color) and put him in the Senate to do the party's bidding.
Grady S. Burgner
Ooltewah
Abortion 'questions' determine outcome
After years of near silence on the abortion issue, your pages have been full of coverage since the release of the Dobbs decision in June. And with nary a reference to the "other side" of this issue, your articles have focused almost exclusively on the "right to choose."
In the Nov. 25 edition, you report on polling conducted by TFP reporters and conclude that a majority of Hamilton County residents believe that there should be no restrictions on abortion access, while fewer than 10% believe that abortion is murder. As with all polling, how the questions are asked determines to a considerable extent the polling result. One may well wonder about the responses to questions such as these (which to my knowledge are never asked): "Do you believe that what is conceived in the body of a female human is itself human life?" In the case of a positive response, "Do you believe that such human life is genetically unique?" "Do you understand that each of us currently living outside our mother's womb was once a zygote, embryo, fetus, etc.?"
Such questions would restore some balance to the "debate." Indeed, the Mississippi law (Dobbs case) was itself a compromise, outlawing abortion only after 15 weeks gestation, and similar to what is found in most European countries.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Ga.