LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Extremists are in control

As the national political pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other, from the neo-conservative Republicans to the far-left Democrats, many in the middle feel increasingly alienated and exasperated. We have come to wish a pox on both.

The neo-cons brought us the disgrace of Iraq and an imperious president who played us for fools while abusing his power. Under Barack Obama we now have a socialist-style, government-run health care system with the tyranny of being fined if we refuse to join.

Perhaps it is inevitable that two political parties digress to the extremists at their base. These activists keep the gears turning during the lull between campaigns. Their zealous partisanship is the driving motive. Thus, when a new campaign gets under way, these purists-some would call them extremist ideologues-get to set the national agendas, develop the party planks and prioritize the propaganda that gets fed into a ravenous national media.

While maybe a necessary evil, the Founding Fathers declared such factionalism contrary to the common good. Perhaps it really is time to give serious consideration to a third (middle way) party. It would be an uphill battle. The two parties have stacked the deck to prevent a third contender. Even so, I take heart in Lao Tzu’s words: “When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.” JOHN R. BOMAR Arkadelphia Funny math in taxes

My husband and I recently purchased a new car in Batesville. We were very pleased with the deal they gave us on our little 2009 Kia Rio with only 48 miles on the odometer. The service was great and the price was excellent.

When we first saw the car, the price tag hanging brightly in the window was $11,597. As we started the paperwork, we were given an additional $750discount that Kia was giving school teachers in August. The final price: $10,847. Great deal. We paid our down-payment, signed the papers and happily drove it home.

When I went to the revenue office to pay the sales tax and register it, I got a shock. When they pulled out the papers, I discovered that I had to pay taxes on a purchase price that included the amount of the rebates that went to the dealership. When it was all finished, we payed sales tax for $13,597 instead of the actual negotiated price.

If I purchase something on sale at Wal-Mart, I only pay sales tax on the amount of the sale price, not the original non-sale price. How is my car purchase any different? Leave it to the state of Arkansas to come up with a way to stick it to the little guy who’s just trying to make his 120-mile daily commute to teach Arkansas students. Don’t we give enough already without the funny math?

MICHELLE WAHLQUIST Drasco

Commentary lacking

Paul Wolfowitz’s recent commentary missed a very important part of not understanding that Iraq may not survive as well as Korea. The important part is the religion of Korea compared to that of Iraq.

I have read a bit about the Middle East and have a small hold on understanding their pattern of developing a government, each time a dictator like leader with a cabinet and some sort of chamber of members selected by the dictator. Their religion seems to demand this system of government.

Korea, on the other hand, had been under occupation of Japan for some years before Japan was forced to surrender to the United States and other nations such as the U.S.S.R. They have had visits from many Christian missionaries. Sad that many here can only think of the Moonies, but there are several faiths there.

If you think back, the Taliban captured a busload of Korean missionaries and executed the pastor. South Korea has developed into a multi-religion nation and this has led to them coming from a dictator to a republic. Iraq, on the other hand, is a mono-religion nation that has divisions within that religion that causes open warfare.

Korea exists in harmony and Iraq must prove that it can make the grade. Maybe a Christian church or Jewish temple in Baghdad would help.

LOVELL LEE Batesville

Take objective look

The cartoon that letter writer Elizabeth Barry referred to was very fitting for the Glenn Beck program. Many reasons crossed my mind asI hung my head in disgust and distress like Abraham Lincoln in the cartoon.

Beck’s fairy tale regarding the history of the Washington Monument was wrong. But you would have to read real historians to know that. The irony over the controversy surrounding the monument all those years ago was started by a group called the Know-Nothings.

Beck’s fantasy to a gullible audience of actually holding and reading a speech given by George Washington several hundred years ago should have raised a red flag. A document of that age has probably only been touched by a restoration professional.

Barry’s family is a shining example of honor, service and duty to this country. Like her, I love my country. I just do not like charlatans who exploit our country. If she was caught up in the uplifting day, she might want to objectively look at Beck the other 364 days of the year. The operative word here is “objectively,” so she should do herself a favor and turn off FOX News.

SUSAN MAYES Little Rock

Penalty was worth it

Re the editorial about the two “correctors” of typos who were on a nationwide hunt for ones they could correct: I caught it on public radio. The two culprits were banned from national parks for two years and fined $1,500 for correcting a letter on a sign on a restroom door in a national park.

When caught, they said they’d change it back, but the park official said the government would do it, and as of three months the correction hadn’t been made, but the $1,500 is salted away in somebody’s government desk.

I got caught correcting errors in a library and the fine was only $100, but it was worth it. It was a cowboy book, the genre I like, that started the story about a girl named Molly and by the third chapter she was named Mary. Of course, it was printed, sold and delivered from London, England. What’d I expect?

WILLIAM P. HILL Springdale

Don’t blame unions

Re the letter by Ed Ferree: I joined the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, served four years as an apprentice and 30 years as a journeyman, and retired in 1990. The workmanship and productivity of union trained craftsman is at a higher level than that of non-union shops. Due to advances in material, pneumatic nailers, machines and techniques, the percentage of labor costs in the construction of new homes has not changed much in those 30 years.

The increase in costs can be blamed on the rising costs of land and the profits made by the developers and general contractors. And all the items that Ferree referred to are made overseas due to the fact that the CEOs of those companies have let greed outweigh their love (or lack thereof) for this country that we are all fortunate enough to live in.

The fact that it takes two minimum-wage, non-union paychecks to live at the poverty level ought to tell you something. My point is, don’t blame the unions. Take a long look at the companies and CEOs who are taking those decent-paying jobs out of this country.

LEE A. POOL Salem

Number perspective

As if I wasn’t angry enough already about our country’s spending spree, I just learned that Gov. Mike Beebe’s Commission on Global Warming has made 54 policy recommendations and that just 29 of them would cost $3.7 billion.

When I learned that our entire budget for Arkansas for 2010 is $4.4 billion, my blood really boiled. Then that made me realize how big Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package really is: 178 times the size of Arkansas’ budget.

Obama’s stimulus package would run the entire state for 178 years. Instead, the stimulus money is going for all kinds of projects that further Obama’s liberal agenda, like more than $100 billion for global warming projects and green jobs. For every job created, two will probably be destroyed and another sent overseas.

There are 31,487 American scientists, 9,029 with Ph.D.’s, who have gone on the record by signing a petition saying that global warming is not a reality. Yet Beebe’s commission has the gall to say on its website, “All panels of scientists who have reviewed the science of climate change have concluded that there is a 90 to 95% probability that human activities have increased amounts of important [greenhouse gases] . . . in the atmosphere to levels not seen in all of prior human experience, and likely not seen for 3 million years.”

Our popular Democratic governor has no more sense than Obama.

BOBBIE WARNER Little Rock

Bad policy hurts kids

I have two nephews and I am very concerned about them. They are required to get on a school bus at 6 a.m.

One nephew attends Mills University Studies High School and the other attends Fuller Middle School. Instruction at each school begins at about 7:30 a.m. My nephews tell me that they are so tired due to the start time that classroom instruction is very hard to absorb.

Last year school started at about 8:30 a.m. I have no professional experience as an educator; however, common sense tells us that 8:30 a.m. is a more suitable time for the education process to begin.

Pulaski County Special School District officials have stated that the early start time helps students with after-school jobs and those who participate in extracurricular activities. They have not given any justification for the early start time that has to do with improving education. The district is essentially running two bus schedules to accommodate two time schedules.

The Pulaski County Special School District was deemed fiscally distressed within the past five years. According to a recent report by the Arkansas Department of Education, the district is again in danger of achieving this dubious honor.

The PCSSD’s administration’s decision to spend up to $1 million under these circumstances is bad education policy and even worse fiscal policy.

JOHN ROLLANS Little Rock

Outlays outrageous

In 2007, the last year Republicans controlled the Congress, the deficit was $160 billion. In 2010, with Democrats controlling the Congress. it has climbed to $1.3 trillion under President Obama. In 19 months of Obama’s and the Democrats’ control, it has increased to more than $13 trillion.

Obama has given your tax dollars to rebuild Muslim mosques overseas. According to The Associated Press, the Obama administration will give away nearly $6 million of taxpayer money to restore 63 historic and cultural sites, including mosques and minarets, in 55 nations. This is an outrage.

Our country is broke. Can you imagine what the ACLU and other secular left groups would say if this money had been spent to repair Christian churches? They would be screaming separation of church and state. You don’t suppose the $100 million to build the mosque in New York will come from our tax money, do you?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. program to restore Islamic and other cultural centers is money well spent.

CLYDE HOLLOWAY Searcy

Feedback Give it some time

It took the Republican Party under George W. Bush eight years to run this country into a ditch. We went from a budget surplus to trillion-dollar deficits. We lost millions of jobs. The party of the elite did a poor job.

After two years of Democratic Party rule, the economy is a bit better. Housing is a bit better. Jobs seem to be gradually returning. Two years of more positive government can’t trump eight years of simply bad government. Rebuilding an economy takes time.

Now we seem to have an electorate that is courting the Republican/tea Party. One thing that’s in the news now is tax cuts for the rich. The Republican Party, the party of the elite, is all for more tax cuts for those who make plenty of money. If I made a half-million dollars a year, I think I could pay a bit more tax to help trim the deficit.

For farmers in Arkansas, what is John Boozman going to do for you? For others, what is the Republican Party going to do for you?

BOB SWINDLER McGehee