Congress, uranium and the registrar’s office in today’s letters to the editor.

Pick of the day: A promise is a promise

In running for office, members of Congress make a pledge to represent the best interests of the people.

In office, they pledge to uphold the laws they pass.

When the Bush tax cuts passed, there was a built-in pledge that they would expire after 10years. That provision was a Republican maneuver to lure Democrats into going along. So members of both parties joined in a pledge to end the tax cuts in 2010.

Sadly, Congress has reneged on that pledge twice. It failed to follow the law by ignoring the expiration date written into it. Then it pushed through a two-year extension. In doing so, Congress signaled that tax cuts must be strictly enforced, but the expiration part of the law could be ignored.

Now, 12 years after the first law passed, Republicans still hold Democrats hostage, again by refusing to let the cuts expire and arrogantly demanding spending cuts as ransom.

In light of all the broken pledges, why do Republicans steadfastly stand by the one pledge they honor — to the lobbyist Grover Norquist — while cavalierly dismissing their many pledges to voters?

Does a pledge to a lobbyist supersede all other pledges?

BARBARA ELMORE

ROANOKE