Letters from Readers - 2012
|
Jan. 30,
2012 Watch Republicans We were very disappointed to learn that the Alabama legislative leadership does not plan to hold budget hearings before the 2012 regular session. Historically, budget hearings have been held by the Joint Fiscal Committee and led by the budget chairs in the House and Senate to help provide the entire Legislature and the public with a greater understanding of the funding challenges facing us each year. This is the first year I can remember that budget hearings will not be held. In these hard times, you need more information, not less. People need to prepare for what is to come. We are concerned that this year, like last, the Republicans in the Legislature will balance the budgets on the backs of teachers and state employees. Everyone needs to see numbers as soon as possible so we can best protect the citizens of Alabama. The budget hearing process is critical to the Legislature's being able to do a good job in hard times, and it is disturbing that the leadership has chosen to abandon these hearings. As Democrats, our priority has always been protecting seniors and children. To do that, you must protect Medicaid. Our state and matching federal Medicaid dollars fund 78 percent of beds in nursing homes, one in two live births, and 38 percent of child health care in Alabama. Without proper funding, seniors will lose their beds in nursing homes and pregnant women and children will lose their health care. The Republican legislators who have cancelled budget hearings are the same people who ran on a platform of openness and transparency. But we must watch their actions and not just listen to their words. They ran for office saying they would provide more openness and transparency, and yet one of the first things they did was try to block the public from the State House during sessions. Now they are denying the public, the press and the Legislature access to the critical information provided by pre-session budget hearings. Sen. Roger Bedford (D) Russellville Jan. 9, 2012 Special interests Career politicians in the U.S. Congress are quick to reach out to voters around election time. This is natural since it is the voters who will determine who gets elected. However, these politicians are continuously reaching out to special interests who supply the large amounts of money needed to run a successful campaign. So, the voters supply the votes and the special interests supply the money. The problem here is that the voters and the special interests are different groups with different expectations. Voters expect politicians to represent the country and their local district. Special interests expect favors for themselves and their companies. Voters never have enough money to get the attention of members of Congress after the election. If you would like to support candidates who will refuse to accept special interest money, are independent of a political party, and will serve a limited term, go to www.goooh.com to learn more. Billy D. Clifford Austin, Texas Spread of communism As I write, future Communist party members flood across our borders illegally. Our immigrant hospitality funds are hopelessly depleted. Communism affects every aspect of our lives while editing or silencing the thoughts and writing of those who disagree in the name of political correctness. When a state makes a move toward modest autonomy, federal judges abolish the attempt. An already tested and failed system of oppression and exploitation, Communism requires a re-education, which is exactly what our children are receiving in today's public schools. The American Republic, an imploding nation, is being systematically picked apart and large element of farce can be ill-denied by any objective viewer of the liberal press. Diversity, having reached a critical saturation point, has crippled logical decision-making and we are receiving a thorough drubbing by reality. Jesse L. Warmack Piedmont Jan. 2, 2012 Weiss Lake movie A few weeks back I took some friends to see Little River Canyon. It is very impressive. The highlight of the trip is the $21 million Little River Canyon Center. The park rangers there give visitors a tour and show a short movie. The film starts off by showing Jacksonville State students teaching kids about crawdads and snakes, then Randy Owens from the group Alabama talks about the park. Then, low and behold, our own Rep. Richard Lindsey talks about the wonders of the park. It was great! On the way home I got to thinking that what Weiss Lake needs is a movie to get some attention. I went to work and came up with a plan. We don't have a $21 million facility, but maybe we can use the Cherokee County Historical Museum to show the film. First we'll have some university teaching kids how to swim in polluted water without getting it in their eyes, ears, nose, and throats. Next they can talk about how the many verities of wildlife have to eat and swim in our sewage. Next, we can have Alabama Power show pictures of their flood easement, littered with abandoned RVs, trash, and docks falling in the water. Alabama Power can even invite Georgia Power to show pictures of the dead fish and boiling water they send to our lake from their coal-fired plant in Coosa, Ga. We don't have a big-name star to talk about Weiss Lake, but maybe the lead singer from the “Crap-Pee Band” can talk about the wonderful fishing. Of course, he will have to warn folks not to eat the fish they catch in the lake. Now comes the highlight of the movie. State senators Phil Williams and Gerald Dial, and of course Rep. Lindsey, can talk about all the things they are doing to help. (We will have to limit their time because they have so much to talk about.) To conclude, we can have the Cherokee County Commission talk about their 10-year struggle to pass a sewage ordinance and how they expect to get it passed in the next year or two and implemented in the next decade. I think the movie will really impress those who see it. After the premiere, Alabama Power can host a fish fry. (Don't worry, they will import the fish from the lakes south of us where the water is clean after being filtered through their Weiss Lake “retention pond”.) To cap a wonderful program, Dr. Donald Williamson from the State Health Department can finally “plant the flag” he promised to put in Centre a year or so ago. I think this will be a glorious affair and I hope The Post will get pictures, especially of the flag-raising. Tom Taylor Centre |
|
|