LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — GOP is ignoring facts

It is acknowledged that in 2009 our economy had collapsed and we were headed for another 1929. Industries were in jeopardy and we were shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. Barack Obama was dealt a terrible hand, and anything he did had to have a positive impact on the economy.

If you’ve been listening to the Republican debates, you may believe that everything he did failed. That they would ignore the facts speaks volumes.

Let’s deal with three actions where he supposedly failed.

On the Stimulus: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that it saved or created millions of jobs. It stopped the bleeding and prompted the private sector to create additional millions of jobs.

On the Affordable Care Act (see Obamacare): It will cover millions of uninsured Americans, the same people who do not pay to use our hospital emergency rooms, thereby driving up our insurance premiums. The same CBO says the act will reduce the deficit by billions of dollars.

On the auto-industry bailout: All of the debaters either would not support it or said it would fail. Today, GMis again back on top. Chrysler is growing faster than any other automobile company. In the process, hundreds of thousands of lost jobs have come back.

Both political parties ignore facts that do not support their agenda. In this case, however, the Republican Party chooses to dispute nonpartisan expert research.

That is outside the pale.

BOB WATERS

Hot Springs Village

Sure seems to be clear

Maybe my thinking is fuzzy, or else I do not understand logic.

If we are dependent on foreign oil, why not accelerate the permit process for new drilling? This would decrease our dependency and also reduce our balance of payments on trade deficits, of which about 60 percent is due to oil purchases.

Why have immigration laws when we will not enforce them?

Why must we have to select English or Spanish on telephone calls and have printed instructions in both languages when we buy something?

Why is Christianity under attack?

Why are the flag and patriotism divisive?

We have to wake up and stand up for our God, our country, and our freedoms and not depend on someone else.

BOBBY THOMPSON

Greers Ferry

Do taxpayers a favor

We just mailed our check for support of the Pulaski County Special School District; $1,431 dollars should help with their financial needs. We sent it in one lump sum because that is most beneficial. Retirement in May means far less income, but the same or more tax support must be paid until death. We understand the importance of public schools, the expense of education, and that Americans share in their support through taxes.

Here is the rub. In my opinion, the past shows that the people in command of our schools make such bad use of money-free electronic gadgets, free food, unnecessary jobs, and the list could fill this page. Just imagine the waste that has been kept from public view. What a mess!

Common sense tells you that the school districts in Pulaski County should realign. Now is a perfect time to do that. Do the taxpayer a favor and show us you really care by voluntarily creating two districts-one north of the river and the other south. I could write a book about how to use our money, but will gladly share with anyone if invited.

RICHARD EMMEL

Little Rock

The things that count

Let’s make another Peyton Manning or another Tiger Woods; let’s make top teachers. All we need to do is study measured attributes and reproduce them in others.

Top teachers are special. In my 41 years of teaching, I was lucky enough to have taught with a number of outstanding teachers who drove me. All of those special people possessed a high level of passion for teaching. That passion was supported by three attributes.

First, they all possessed an intense respect, dare I say, love for all students. Second, they all were possessed by curiosity, constantly learning all sorts of widely different things. And finally, they all possessed a tremendous reserve of stamina to withstand the pressures of school life as well as a capacity to withstand the ever-constant flow of epidemics flooding through schools.

Editors, politicians, policymakers and educational experts would be wise to keep this note posted in their workplaces: “Some things that can be counted don’t count. Some things that can’t be counted count.”

CHARLES SWANSON

Bella Vista

Prices aren’t his fault

There are a few things that affect gasoline prices in the U.S., and none fall under the control of the president or Congress. First is the price of a barrel of oil set by OPEC and others. Next is the price charged by oil refineries. Third is the profit generated by oil speculators on the world market, which adds to the price per gallon at the pump; Congress may have limited control over this, but only if it acts in our interest. Perhaps most important is the law of supply and demand. Right now, supply is way up; Barack Obama’s policies have resulted in an increase in active drilling rigs and a reduction in demand and usage over the past three years. So, supply and demand also seem not to be affecting the rising price at the pump.

The president’s refusal to approve the Keystone pipeline, which would take years to complete, has nothing to do with prices today. Just as erroneous is the claim that Obama won’t allow new drilling. The U.S. is now producing more domestic oil than it has in 10 years.

So who is to blame? Other than OPEC and speculators and the fact that oil companies are the most profitable companies in human history, I am not sure. Those who blame Obama seem to imply that he should order gas prices to be lowered, in direct contradiction to those same critics who claim he is a dictator and sticking his nose where it does not belong. You can’t have it both ways.

One thing I am sure of is that we will not get answers from the election-year rhetoric we are bombarded with daily.

PETER HARRISON

Bentonville

What would he play?

Someone asked me once if Jesus played soccer. Maybe he wanted to as a child but his mother probably objected because they used a skull for the ball. This would have been irreverent to the body. So Joseph got busy and cut out some leather for Jesus’ mother to sew together and stuffed it with straw for a new ball.

Mother is about the most endearing name that there is. Jesus would later call his mother woman in the historical biblical sense. But she was still mother, and so Jesus’ parents then probably would let him play soccer.

THOMAS W. KELLER

Carlisle