Offenders and kids
According to your recent article and a noon news program, both Tuesday, Earl Williams, a convicted level 3 sex offender, was working with children at Dunbar Middle School.
He was arrested Feb. 25. On the news program Tuesday, Judge Marion Humphrey said he was a personal friend of Williams and knew about the conviction. His next statement was quite a shock. He said that he didn't know the conviction excluded Williams from working with children.
Is he for real??
SHIRLEY HENDRICKS
Maumelle
There's a way to say it
Re polite cussing: My demure 85-year-old mom used "gracious things." She explained she had been raised to always say that when departing a soiree. She later used it on numerous occasions, usually raising puzzled brows.
My personal favorite was coined during an excursion through the bowels of Blanchard Caverns. We trudged up, down and through the eye-popping stalactites, stalagmites and other assorted wonders. Each of these marvels were announced in a grating 5- or 6-year-old soprano screech. This child "educated" us on a myriad of topics. Did you know you can remember how to differentiate which stuff grows from the cave floor up and which from the ceiling down? T for top, M for muck.
This nonstop travelogue continued for what seemed like hours but came to a screeching announcement when the group arrived at a placard placed next to a huge pile of ancient bat excrement easily the size of half a dozen VW Beetles.
Curious as to how our child guide would choose to enlighten us, we turned in rapt attention for several seconds until she screamed, "Mommy, lookey! Great, shimmering mounds of old bat ... uhh. Guano."
Feel free to appropriate this whenever possible to inject into any start-ling or amazing situation. "Guano" or a more common appellation may be used depending on cohorts' couth or prissiness.
After attaining room temperature over 10 years ago, I can still hear her voice echoing in wonder at any unlikely tale, "Great shimmering mounds," etc.
DICK PRICE
Little Rock
Threat to our security
I strongly object to the transfer of nuclear technology, led by Jared Kushner, to Saudi Arabia by IP3 International.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a cruel and ruthless tyrant in the same mold as Moammar Gadhafi. Uranium 235, the fuel used in nuclear reactors, is also used to make nuclear weapons. Since Iran is a mortal enemy of Saudi Arabia, once this transfer takes place, I believe Iran will have no choice but to begin its own nuclear weapons program.
I strongly urge the Arkansas congressional delegation to do everything it can to stop this transfer, which will ultimately turn the Middle East into a ticking time bomb that threatens not only that region of the world, but the security of United States as well.
What you do or don't do now about this situation will ultimately determine the fate of the world as we know it.
BRAD BAILEY
Fayetteville
The greater danger
State Sen. Stephanie Flowers' R. Kelly-like dramatic performance at the hearing for Senate Bill 484 (duty to retreat self-defense bill) was most impressive, with her peanut gallery of far-left radicals, such as Moms Demand Action, cheering her on.
Then one hears why she left the room ... to take a smoke break.
I would offer the thought that Senator Flowers stands a greater chance of endangering the lives of those around her with her secondhand smoke than does SB484 endangering the lives of Arkansans.
JIM LITES
Little Rock
Voodoo economics
While speaking about the proposed Trump tax cut plan in September 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told us, "Not only will this tax plan pay for itself, but it will pay down debt." However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that only 39 percent of the cost of the tax cuts would be recovered through 2027. Since the U.S. measures revenue as a percentage of GDP, if a tax cut actually created extra revenue, there should be an increase in this value. In FY2017, revenue was 17.0 percent GDP, but after the tax cut it decreased to 16.3 percent GDP in FY2018.
After George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton raised taxes, revenue averaged 19.3 percent GDP during Clinton's last four budget years when there was a budget surplus. For budget years 2019-2023 revenue is forecast to average 16.6 percent GDP. This loss of revenue on an economy of $21+ trillion results in a revenue loss of $567+ billion per year. As our gentle editorial page writer would ask, how many aircraft carriers would that build?
During Trump's first budget for FY 2018, U.S. debt increased by $1.27 trillion. Debt is now forecast to increase by over $1 trillion per year for the next decade to $30+ trillion by 2028. If the Fed interest rate stays at the current 2.5 percent, yearly interest payments on debt will be about $750 billion per year. Our gentle editorial page writer could ask, how much U.S. infrastructure would that build?
The U.S. has now tried this Bush-named "voodoo economics" three times with the same results: short-term economic growth, reduced revenue, higher spending and ballooning national debt. The greed and irresponsibility of this generation is leaving a legacy of increasingly higher taxes and fewer benefits for our children and grandchildren.
Semper fi.
KENNETH R. WEBER
Greenbrier
Debt-reduction idea
When I read the headline about Bernie Sanders' fundraising momentum, I couldn't help but calculate how much a tax on such could reduce the federal deficit.
If all campaign contributions (from dogcatcher to president) were taxed at 25 percent and targeted toward national debt reduction, how much less would America's debt be?
Do the math!
JOHN HAIN
Little Rock
Editorial on 03/10/2019