Trump will be winner
On Tuesday, Ted Cruz dropped out. This ensures the Republican candidate will be Donald Trump.
I wrote a letter to the editor last year titled "You'll vote for Trump" and asked you to cut it out and keep it somewhere safe. I believe Trump's popularity is due to him being a superb showman. He is very adept at reading the audience and evolving his presentation as needed to attain his goal. Hillary Clinton pales in this capacity mostly because she is weighted down by the baggage of her past, be it Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation, speaking fees, or the dreaded next first lady Bill Clinton.
Remember that a no vote is a vote for Hillary. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for the Republican Party. Aren't you thirsting for relief from eight years of the shackles of "Hope and Change"?
JIM LITE
White Hall
Party with death wish
Well, they've gone and done it. It seems the GOP has tried so hard to keep President Barack Obama from having a successful administration that they have obstructed themselves into the prospect of dissolution of the party. They have assumed that being a Hillary-hater qualifies a candidate more than any ideas of statesmanship, experience, or knowledge of the state of the union.
Judging by the progress of the primary elections, of 17 of the best possible candidates the party could field, Republican voters would rather have the darkest horse possible go down in flames in the general election than to groom a viable candidate to run in November. The Beavis and Butt-head show we have been watching is not a welcome development in American politics.
Our best hope is that a new party will arise from the ashes of the former Republican Party, as the current group bears no resemblance to the "Party of Lincoln." Maybe then the country can get back to electing officials who will follow the Constitution, beginning with the country's intents and purposes as expressed in the preamble.
DENNIS A. BERRY
Bryant
Turn out those lights
Leftist hacks such as John Brummett and his acolytes in the Little Rock School District teachers' union can cry and snivel all they want. Our fine Republican governor replaced Baker Kurrus and that's all there is to it.
What was it Brummett's hero Barack Hussein Obama once told John McCain? Oh, yes, now I remember. The election is over and "I won!"
GREGG MEDLOCK
Sherwood
What happened to it?
I have followed, with passing interest, coverage of the Highway Department's plan for Interstate 30. Your paper and other news outlets keep mentioning exits to Cantrell Road. Are they moving I-30 west of Broadway? What has happened to La Harpe Boulevard?
BARNEY CLARK
Little Rock
Write-in will get vote
When one of my grandsons was in kindergarten, he came home and told his mom his class had voted for president that day. The candidates that year were Bob Dole, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. When his mom asked him who he voted for, he said Bobby Roscoe.
He was obviously confused, but no more so than I am this election year, so I have promised my now 25-year-old grandson that I will write in Bobby Roscoe when I vote in November's general election. Can't pull the lever for either of the two likely contenders.
HOMER FELTNER
Maumelle
They deserve honor
I can't help but feel that a group picture on a monetary bill illustrating members of each of the five branches of our armed forces would be most appropriate, as so many have given their lives while protecting us for many years.
JEAN MICHENER
Hot Springs Village
It gets in your eyes ...
I go to church with friends on Sundays. The man who preaches at that church smokes, but his wife says she will not go to a business that has males and females using the same restroom.
Does she think I enjoy going to a church that has a smokeaholic preaching? If I could get out of going without hurting my friends, I would. I don't think a smokeaholic or an alcoholic should be preaching. I think they choose to be smokeaholics, just like I think homosexuals choose to be homosexuals.
ALICE ANN LONG
Russellville
Raise minimum wage
The U.S. is a country of opportunity and yet opportunity is hardly accessible to some people. Today, millions of Americans live below the poverty line because the minimum wage is too low. Most people working on full-time minimum-wage jobs still don't have enough money for individual and family needs. Therefore, we need to raise the federal minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would raise the country's wealth and reduce expenditures on programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.
How is raising the minimum wage going to raise wealth? Besides the fact that it would raise the income of families under the poverty line, I believe it will also help the economy as a whole by giving more money to people to spend, which will stimulate gross domestic product growth. Those who benefit most from raising the minimum wage are minorities, women, and high school students. Furthermore, the gap between poor people and the rich will shrink. As a result, we will benefit from a fair economic system working for everybody.
Raising the minimum wage will reduce the government expenditures on social programs. More people will earn enough money that they do not need these social programs. Despite some side effects that come along with raising the minimum wage, such as increasing unemployment, raising the minimum is a matter of dignity too. People have the right to be paid fairly in order to have a decent life.
Lately, states like California have raised their minimum wage. The lawmakers came to an agreement with labor unions in order to reach an adequate living wage and the process will start gradually until it reaches $15 in 2022. We are hoping that California is just a start and more states will catch up.
PAOLA ISIMBI IBALE
Conway
A different approach
In my opinion, a minimum wage is equivalent to a living wage. Consequently, I think it more appropriate that such wage levels be set at municipal or state levels rather than national.
A recent article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette described enforcement problems in municipalities such as Seattle and San Francisco and the states of California, New York and Oregon. I'm not surprised that these places must deal with such violations.
I have more confidence in the ethical behavior of civic employees than potential violators, who are willing to cut corners to maximize profits or stay in business. I start with the premise that unregulated market capitalism doesn't work.
Rather than regulate wages, I think the federal government should hire unemployed or underemployed citizens, including veterans, to deal with construction and maintenance of interstate infrastructure. Beyond that, the feds should engage in projects to refurbish deplorable schools such as exist in Detroit and provide safe drinking water in places such as Flint, Mich., where state and local governments require assistance.
JOHN R. PIAZZA
Bethel Heights
Editorial on 05/05/2016