TheState.com: Letters

Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:14 EST

• Thanks for making Honor Flight possible

I have just returned from the inaugural Honor Flight, and it was a memorable experience for me.

I would like to thank all of the people who worked on the flight; they did a terrific job of organizing it. It was first-class all the way.

I also would like to thank all of the people who raised funds for the flight, especially students from Gilbert and other schools.

I sincerely appreciate all of the hard work everyone did. I will remember the flight for the rest of my life.

Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:16 EST

• Some suggestions for treating homeless

A recent op-ed suggested that local leaders do not have the answer to the homeless problem. Are some tried and true initiatives being overlooked?

I am just one who sometimes advises the homeless. The homeless are a diverse mix of people with diverse needs and agendas. We cannot treat them all alike. Let’s get personal with them:

1. Diagnosis before treatment. We need to discern who is a deadbeat dad, sexual offender, fugitive from the law, alcoholic, addict, job seeker, mother with children, mentally ill, etc.

2. Stop enabling them. Many are drug addicts and alcoholics. Enabling is meeting a short-term need, which obstructs long-term recovery.

Tuesday’s Letters to the Editor

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:15 EST

• In voting for Obama, race was not a factor

I would like to make something clear about the election of Barack Obama. Those of us who so intensely supported his candidacy did so because of what he stands for, not because of his racial heritage. He is our hope for a president who will not lie to us or deceive us, who will represent the American people, not just a powerful minority. We fervently hope that he may be able to guide this country to turn itself around and prevent its deterioration into a secondary power.

Barack Obama’s race is an inexpressible joy and delight, offering new visions of a bright future for us all. We wept with joy. But his race does not define him or what he represents. I would like to see more written about Obama the man, not just Obama the first black president.

MARILYN MISS

Columbia

IN FOCUS: The auto industry bailout

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:50 EST

• Has everyone lost their minds?

Politicians have tried to convince us that the financial markets are too big and important to let them have to reap what they’ve sown.

The bailout is rewarding them for mismanagement and ineptitude at the very least and larceny at the worst. What’s happened to the laws that are supposed to keep an entity from reaching this point? Where were our government officials who were trusted with regulating these entities? Now it seems that “we the people” are going to have to tote the note for this mess, while Wall Street CEOs and the banking industry are still being bailed out with exorbitant retirement packages and perks, which again seems like thievery to me.

People, we have been had; the only question left is to what degree.

Adding insult to injury, executives in the auto industry have to get theirs, too. Through lack of foresight and lack of American ingenuity, they have found themselves playing second (third, fourth , whatever) fiddle to the Japanese, who have taken the initiative in producing not only affordable but also the most economic, fuel-efficient cars thus far. It is fair to say that American automakers have been hamstrung by exceedingly outrageous labor costs and government regulation. Ford autoworkers can make $60,000 a year without overtime and more than $100,000 with it, not counting benefits.

ETC.: Guns, taxes, budget writers & more

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:50 EST

• S.C. cannot afford tax-free gun holiday

Our state Legislature has approved a Second Amendment holiday that will waive the sales tax on purchases of rifles, handguns and shotguns on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29. This is to be an annual event held every Thanksgiving weekend.

Accessories are not exempt. Thank goodness the Legislature knew where to draw the line.

As a gun owner myself, I believe wholeheartedly in the Second Amendment, which gives a person the right to bear arms. But there are so many more important issues lawmakers could be discussing or voting on to make the state a better place for all people.

I have talked to no one who approves of this or understands the logic behind it, especially during these tough economic times.

Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:15 EST

• Tax-free gun holiday dangerous, unnecessary

South Carolina legislators have passed the Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday, which will allow people to buy guns tax-free. Thinking people would call it pandering of the worst kind.

And dangerous. According to the FBI, South Carolina is the most violent state in the nation.

Instead of a tax break for food or gas or products to help protect the environment, we get a tax break on guns. Seriously. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 28 and ending at midnight Nov. 29, South Carolinians can save money while they beef up their arsenals.

It’s not like they needed the incentive. There has been a run on guns since Barack Obama was elected president, amid fears that he and a Democratic-controlled Congress will pass stricter gun laws.

Friday’s Letters to the Editor

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:14 EST

• We must pitch in and help Obama

I am a sixth-grader at St. George Middle School in Dorchester District 4, and I think Barack Obama as president is great. He is going to bring a big change. America is a swirling whirlpool, and I believe he is going to turn that whirlpool into calm, serene, still waters.

This is another chance for we the people to unite and help make the change. The world economy is going to change, and the wars will end.

Being President-elect Obama’s people, we can’t just wait for the change; we have to help him bring it about. We can reduce the crime rate and help children gain hope and stay in school. We can clean up pollution and stop doing drugs and smoking.

Take charge, people, and be responsible. We the people united, all with our individual differences and personal problems, can overcome all of these differences. Then, and only then, can we all pitch in and help Obama make a change, not for the good of ourselves, but for the good of everybody in the entire country.

Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:17 EST

• A ‘thank you’ to the voters of District 79

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to the voters of House District 79.

First of all, thank you for the kindness you have shown me and my family during the recent campaign. I will always cherish this experience, as well as the many new friendships I have made.

Also, thank you for your support of my positive campaign. I firmly believe the people of West Wateree and Northeast Richland County want and deserve a positive campaign based on issues and qualifications, so that is the kind of campaign I ran.

Although the eventual winner, Anton Gunn, and I disagree on many important issues, I have spoken with him, and I am confident he truly has our community’s best interests at heart and will do a fine job serving you.

S.C. understands importance of financial literacy

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:12 EST

There’s no escaping the news regarding the world's financial situation. The credit crisis, the rapid fall of the stock market and the bailout of financial institutions have increased attention to an area that has been a passionate cause for many of us.

We in South Carolina are fortunate that our state legislators understood that financial literacy should start early and be carried through the entire K-12 education system. They enacted the Financial Literacy Instruction Act in 2005, requiring schools to incorporate financial literacy standards throughout the curriculum. Today’s challenge is to embed the components of financial education in all classrooms for the benefit of all students.

There is a wealth of free resources available to parents and teachers designed to increase young people’s financial literacy. Some of the information can be found at the Web sites of the S.C. Department of Education (www.ed.sc.gov), the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (www.jumpstart.org) and the Department of Treasury (www.mymoney.gov/kids).

Financial literacy starts at home, with young people learning from their experiences and the behaviors that are modeled for them. Together, with teachers, efforts must be taken to strengthen the understanding of money and finance, ultimately producing citizens who apply effective spending, saving and investing practices.

MARC DREWS

Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:12 EST

• Transition center key to helping homeless

I, too, live downtown. I have had homeless people approach me in my driveway for money. I work in the Bank of America building beside the Salvation Army; they approach me for money in the parking lot.

The Knight Foundation, the Midlands Housing Alliance, the United Way and the faith community have all come together and offered the city $10 million in start-up money,

Yet we are still fighting about the location. I believe the people fighting do not understand what is being proposed. The transition center will be a place to get the homeless off the streets so that they can eventually get their own homes in the community as working citizens. They will have a place to stay at night. They won’t need to use your yard for their bathroom. Some of them need medication or counseling, which the transition center will provide.

This is a chance for local businesses to get their sidewalks back, a chance for the city to get its parks and library back and a chance for Columbia to do the right thing once and for all — not to mention saving millions in emergency room care.

U.K. has strong bond with our WWII vets

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:15 EST

Rather than rain on the veterans’ parade, I thought it was time to thank them for coming to our aid during World War II.

I am from Scotland and was 14 when the war was over.

God bless you for your help. I think the United Kingdom will always think of you as our brothers.

Also, for the rest of America, thank you for the food — Spam, dried eggs, apples, bananas, etc. We really needed it when our supplies were cut off.

IRENE BACON

IN FOCUS: The next president

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:47 EST

• Put aside differences and support Obama

As a John McCain supporter, I hope to be as gracious as Sen. McCain in congratulating our new president and conveying my earnest best wishes for his success.

I supported Sen. McCain because of his experience, his toughness and his well-demonstrated love for our country.

As a fellow Vietnam veteran, I felt that he had been tested in adversity and could better lead us forward. As Sen. Joe Biden predicts, President Obama will be tested. We must all pray for him and support him in each and every test.

My fellow Americans have spoken, and I realize that we now must put aside our petty partisan bickering and pull together. The election is over. I am no longer a supporter of a candidate. I am now a citizen who wants to see his president lead our country back to being a happy, prosperous nation full of proud, forward-thinking people.

ETC.: Bush, veterans, signs and more

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:47 EST

• We can wash our hands of Bush on Jan. 20

Jan. 20 will be a day of national celebration: It is the last day in office for George W. Bush, a shallow, incompetent ideologue whose presidency will be adjudged one of our worst, if not the worst.

Instead of finishing the war of necessity with our real enemy after 9/11, Bush betrayed the public trust by falsely linking al-Qaida to Iraq to justify a war of choice he had planned since his inauguration. He allowed al-Qaida to escape, has now made Iran ascendant in the region and has sacrificed our troops’ blood to overthrow a contained dictator who posed no threat to our national security. He has placed the entire burden of this war on our citizens in uniform.

He took an oath to defend the Constitution; he has desecrated it instead, with illegal wiretapping, secret prisons, “free-speech” zones, suspension of habeas corpus and torture and killing of prisoners in our custody.

He has turned the Justice Department into a political action committee. He has orchestrated fake “press conferences.” He has muzzled the scientists in our federal agencies on environmental, energy, stem cell research and other critical issues. He has sold out the public interest by appointing incompetent ideologues to run our regulatory and relief agencies, again with predictable results: hemorrhaging of our markets, an energy policy designed for oil barons, massive fraud from no-bid war contracts to political allies and a sight I thought I would never see in America: corpses lying in the streets of New Orleans for three days.

Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:12 EST

• Allow citizens to cast votes by computer

An hour standing in line to get my name checked off the voter rolls. Two minutes to get checked off. Ten minutes to get to a voting machine. Five minutes to vote. Not bad considering what others went through, but ridiculous when a much quicker, safer and more expedient option is available: Vote from home!

Go to your county voter database using your home computer and access your voter registration certificate. Print it. Your voting districts are listed. How easy would it be to produce a ballot from this information? How easy would it be to make your choices, review, print, then mail your ballot to a county voting center? Or take it there in person?

There are many downloadable S.C. government forms on the Internet from motor vehicle, health and taxes to education, insurance and environment. We fill them out. We mail them in. We get it done. Why can’t we vote the same way?

Oh, yes, have a 30-day voting period prior to Election Day with no campaigning and no “politicking.”

Friday’s Letters to the Editor

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:16 EST

• Deduction for stock losses should be raised

I have contacted Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and Congressman Joe Wilson concerning increasing the amount in losses a taxpayer can deduct from his or her taxes each year when he sells a stock.

The current amount is $3,000. I might be dead before I can recoup my stock losses at $3,000 a year after this year.

The $3,000 needs to be changed to at least $10,000. This wonderful idea would help me as well as millions of Americans who have suffered massive losses in the stock market.

I am not rich, but I feel we Americans who invest in the U.S. economy deserve a break like the insurance companies and banks are getting from Congress.

Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:48 EST

• Obama will reclaim our nation’s greatness

We survivors of the longest and most trying political campaign in world history can now pause for a moment of reflection. Let’s ponder what an Obama presidency means for our future.

By out-thinking and out-fund-raising the most powerful political machine in America for the nomination, and the wealthiest political party ever in the general election, a black man from a broken family beat the odds.

Victory resulted from a Perry Como-like calmness, an exceptional mind, oratorical virtuosity and unsuspected organizational genius. Those will prove to be valuable traits in a president.

Such qualities will bring focus to a bureaucracy in disarray and help to identify qualified Cabinet heads. They are undeniably key to choosing wisely among America’s long list of priorities and in pinpointing what must be postponed since they are not now affordable. Most of all, they will lead us in policy directions more productive than those that most Americans have so thoroughly rejected.

Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:14 EST

• Misuse of absentee ballots must stop

I have always been under the impression that a voter would only cast an absentee ballot if he or she truly had a valid reason for not being able to vote on Election Day. Can you imagine my surprise to find out this apparently is not the case?

As reported in The State, election officials are saying the crowds are too large to attempt to verify people’s reasons for voting absentee, and they are just taking them at their word. I am more than 50 years old and have voted in every election since I was 18.

I made voting on Election Day a priority and adjusted my life to accommodate going to my polling place and voting, regardless of the hassle or plans I wanted to make.

Absentee voting should be just that, for someone who has good, verifiable reasons for being absent, and unable to vote at his or her precinct on Election Day. This voting early, just like exit polls, distorts the process and should be eliminated.

Tuesday’s Letters to the Editor

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:48 EST

• Our long national nightmare is over

Hallelujah! Thank goodness this tedious, extended, overkill campaign is finally coming to an end. I, as well as many others, have been force-fed and overstuffed like a goose waiting for the kill.

The obscene amount of money that was spent to secure the votes could have been put to better use in these trying times, but no, the candidates had their own personal goals, and agendas take priority. If they thought they were good enough, they wouldn’t have needed almost two years to convince the voters.

All the rhetoric was nothing but repetition.

I hope we will not have a repeat of this.

Clock running out on homeless site

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:13 EST

The Midlands Area Consortium for the Homeless strongly supports Midlands Housing Alliance’s plans to develop a comprehensive center to provide a wide range of services for the homelessness. The center will improve the lives of homeless people and improve the quality of life for all in the Columbia area.

Many past efforts to assist the homeless have been piecemeal, at best. To enable people to move from chronic homelessness coupled with physical or mental illness to being stable members of society with a consistent roof over their heads is a task that requires a coordinated effort by many.

The shelter planned by the alliance would provide that, along with case management to coordinate and ensure the plan of care is implemented.

Members of the alliance have worked tirelessly to develop a comprehensive plan. They have received $5 million in funding from the Knight Foundation that must be matched. It appears that the matching funds can be secured, but grant applications are due this month, and the deadline for equaling the Knight Foundation is Nov. 15.

We cannot waste any more precious time trying to find another suitable site. The Consortium for the Homeless strongly requests that the City Council do what needs to be done to address homelessness in our community now and make a financial commitment to support the comprehensive plan submitted by Midlands Housing Alliance.

IN FOCUS: Tuesday’s election

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:46 EST

• Herndon the best choice for District 79

I deeply appreciate the voters allowing me to serve our community and state in the S.C. House these past 14 years. It has been the honor of a lifetime..

We’ll still be involved citizens, and to that end, I wanted to share my thoughts on who will replace me as the representative for House District 79.

Both candidates are good family men of character and strong supporters of public education, but I feel strongly that David Herndon would better serve our community and state.

His opponent is a longtime community organizer whose full-time job is running a non-profit lobby organization for the poor.