Friday letters
God, nonbelievers and fox penning in today’s letters to the editor.
Pick of the day: Cut the posturing; compromise
By prioritizing their pledge to Grover Norquist before their oath of office, our congressmen will stall the American recovery. Whether or not they are satisfied with Virginia’s 5.9percent unemployment rate and the general fund surplus Virginia claimed in 2011, on Jan.1 jobless claims will skyrocket and Virginia can count on dealing with an unprecedented deficit next year.
Delaying a decision leaves the future of more than 178,000 of Virginia’s federal employees, more federal contractors, their families, small businesses and vets in the lurch. Simultaneously, those of us who still have jobs face an Alternative Minimum Tax impact of $3,700.
Didn’t Congress learn anything the last time it played chicken with deadlines that impact the entire economy? Markets plummet, the dollar falls, our credit rating downgrades, retirement savings wither and spending slows every day this political posturing drags on.
There is no path to avoiding a second recession or mitigating the debt that does not include compromise on tax increases and closing loopholes. The math proves it. If congressmen want to see bad retail sales numbers, they will leave the future of these jobs uncertain. They should go do their jobs, and not come home until they compromise.
MICHAEL HUDSON
BLACKSBURG
November 23, 2012 - 7:22 AM
It seems Jean Harmon seems obligated to provide the Times’ monthly quota of gay-bashing. Never mind that every respected medical and mental-health organization on the planet agrees that there is nothing whatsoever that is inherently harmful about homosexuality and that legalizing same-sex marriage would greatly benefit society as a whole. Sadly, facts and scientific research mean pretty much nothing to Harmon and others like her who prefer to hang on to their irrational bigotry.
Fortunately, time’s not on the side of the gay-bashers: With every year that goes by, more of their kind will continue to die off, and more gay-tolerant folks like myself will get closer to voting age. It’s only a matter of time.
I feel sorry for people so affected by the Presidential election. May God give you the courage to face the reality of life in a democracy where people get to vote and all people learn to live with the results of that vote. The Republic of the United States of America is bigger than your fears and irrational hate. Thanks be to God.
It appears the upcoming budget debate, misses a few points. One is that there isn’t a financial cliff looming as presented, another is, cuts to the military will result in some type disaster, with the usual fear mongering associated with such, but perhaps the most important issue facing us all is that, this election was one that sent a clear message, especially to democrats that, the majority expect them to defend and protect their interests and NOT compromise with the right wing on matters like our social safety net, but rather expand it to account for inflation. As I watch this unfold, I’m watching to see which democrats sell out their constituents and see if folks finally can understand that, if we’re going to have a bottom up democracy, instead of the top down variety we have known all our lives, a third party must come on the scene and affect the changes we need, much like the progressive movement that began in the mid-19TH century and brought us child labor laws, fairer wages, work place safety and so on, the benefits of which are being eroded by both parties, with one moving faster than the other in bringing forth the already in progress new gilded age. Will Americans see politics for what it is and demand change, be willing to work for it as has always been the case, or will they keep on believing their particular party will get it right, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. This budget bill will tell us who is on our side and who wishes to retain the status quo which brought us to where we are today.
#2 Hallelujah.