LETTERS

Not best use of funds

While hospitals are having to close across Arkansas and legitimate Medicaid clients are left destitute of funds and health care, the governor thinks the best use of $10 million in “emergency funds” is to chase more prestige for UAMS.

Puffing UAMS is not an emergency!

JUDY SMITH

Jacksonville

Want cardamom bun

I enjoyed the letter from Marilyn Russell about the cardamom buns. When I read the original article in the Food section, I was immediately hooked when I read that “the scent of green cardamom will linger on your clothes for a couple of hours after a visit to Fabrique, the Swedish bakery … in the meatpacking district of Manhattan.”

I happen to love cardamom. My mind kicked into gear and my thoughts were, “how fast can I make a batch of these buns?” Then I looked at the recipe. It was quite a bit more demanding that I was willing to give. Maybe I will try it on a slow, cold winter day.

If anyone knows of a bakery in Little Rock that offers cardamom buns, I would love to know about it. If not, listen up, bakeries. I think you would have quite a few happy customers if you made these buns.

For those of you not familiar with cardamom, try placing two or three whole pods in a cup of hot tea this winter. You may be surprised at how good it is. You can purchase cardamom pods at any of the local Indian markets.

ROBIN (NICK) JONES

Little Rock

About that wealth tax

It appears to me that the “wealth tax” proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren which will result in a yearly 2 to 6 percent tax on total wealth over a certain amount (real estate, equities and bonds, and other items of worth belonging to the very rich) will be counter-productive for the economy.

The very wealthy own a very large proportion of the stocks in this country, and because of that they have a very large share of votes in corporate boardrooms. If they are losing wealth to the government in the “wealth tax,” they will demand more money in dividends from their corporate holdings. This will further decrease corporate investment in capital improvements and wages. With lower corporate investment, worker productivity will almost certainly fall as well. This will push down wages and lower our international competitiveness.

It seems to me that the right taxes are steeper progressive income taxes and fair corporate income taxes (no companies should be allowed to not pay taxes because of loopholes and offshore tax shelters). If we eliminated stock buybacks (as was the case before the 1980s) and at the same time taxed profits from derivative trading like we do for other forms of gambling, we might be much better off.

KARL STRAUB

Little Rock

First-class university

Thank heavens! After the events of this past Sunday, Arkansas can once again hope to be a first-class university. According to Wally Hall, for much too long the trustees of the university “have been told to worry about academics.” As a result, while the football program has gone to hell, we are saddled with academic achievements that might define UA as very different from “a small land-grant college in the mountains.”

If the greatest achievement of the football team occurred 20 years ago, that is not the case for the university proper. The university has chugged away all that time at its stated mission, “to build a better world by providing opportunities and skills, nurturing creativity, and solving problems through research and discovery, all in service to Arkansas.”

UA has internationally and nationally renowned experts in the theoretical and applied sciences, in agriculture, law, journalism, and the humanities. The Waltons have invested millions to support a business school that has advanced knowledge that benefits the national economy as well as local industries. Walton millions are creating a School of Art that will transform the study and teaching of art. Many other proud alumni have “given back” to the university, acknowledging the education they received from those academics. University projects receive millions in grants for research and other scholarly activities. Graduates work in cutting-edge industries and teach in other universities throughout the country. Some even support the Razorbacks with funds from the excellent salaries they earn.

Yes, Mr. Hall, the U of A is a first-rate university, no matter where its football team stands in the Southeastern Conference. Even people who don’t know one end of a football from another can be proud of its achievements and its reputation. You should get your head out of the Astroturf and pay attention.

ETHEL SIMPSON

Fayetteville

Morally responsible

Back in August, I wrote in response to the El Paso and Dayton shootings that if Senators Boozman and Cotton refused to take action to limit assault-type weapons, then they would be morally responsible for the next mass deaths. Then came seven dead in Odessa at the end of August, and now two high school kids in California.

I’m guessing the senators didn’t and won’t attend any funerals of the victims because that would be awkward, given their obvious disregard for the lives of the victims.

You senators knew someone would die after El Paso and Dayton because I told you it would happen again (you, of course, already knew that), and you have done nothing to indicate you care.

How are those thoughts and prayers working, senators?

STEVE OWEN

Hot Springs Village

Impeachment redux

Looking at Wednesday’s front page, I wonder if you would contrast this page with your front page when Bill Clinton faced impeachment. The difference is striking. Why?

SONNY SCOTT

Little Rock

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