No right to withhold
It appears Rick Perry is as unaware of our laws as Trump is when he stated in a recent article on Ukraine, "Trump wasn't going to send American money to a country that had a history of being corrupt."
There was a time in our history when a president could impound funds. However, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed by Congress to prevent this kind of abuse of power. It provides that the president may propose rescission of specific funds, but that rescission must be approved by both the House and Senate within 45 days. It has pretty much ended a president's ability to impound funds. Congress is not even required to take it up, and usually just ignores it.
Since Trump did not request a rescission, and reportedly held up the funds for several months, he was breaking the law, regardless of whether or not it was a quid pro quo (which is also breaking the law).
Of course, we all know there is no longer any right or wrong, just left or right.
SALLY MAYS
Roland
Facts without the spin
I have read the morning paper for over 35 years. I believe the Democrat-Gazette is the most accurate news we have in Arkansas.
I never thought I would enjoy the digital version as much as the actual paper. I was wrong. The digital is all color, can be zoomed in for old eyes, articles can be saved, and the list goes on and on.
We need the Democrat-Gazette to succeed. While some criticism of the press is justified, I think this paper does a good job in reporting the facts without the spin. As a hard-core conservative, I even find myself agreeing with John Brummett at times.
Let's support our statewide paper. It's worth it for a lot of reasons.
ARTHUR RAFF
North Little Rock
Should pay fair share
Everyone who drives on Arkansas highways should pay their fair share to maintain the roads. By paying the gas tax at the pump, most of us do pay our share. Adding an extra tax on electric autos requires those people to pay their fair share to use the highways.
LARRY HOLEMAN
Jacksonville
It is not uncommon
I had to laugh at Judith Jones' letter criticizing Elizabeth Warren for keeping her first husband's name, implying that Warren has some ulterior motive.
It's not at all uncommon for women who have become well-known in their professions to keep the same name even through marriage and remarriage. If a woman is a professor, artist, or author, for example, it can be less confusing for everyone to use the same name throughout a career. Ivanka Trump is a good example.
Rather than mock Elizabeth Warren for some imagined sin, let's be happy that we have such an intelligent, educated person interested in being our next president.
KATHY PEARSON
Little Rock
Helpful TSA worker
I don't fly very much, but I hear and read about how inept or rude the TSA employees are at the airports.
Here's what happened to me on Oct. 15 at the Clinton Airport. I was going through the customs inspections line and when I came to the place where you empty your pockets into their plastic pans, I began putting all of my stuff in the pan. I could not believe it, but I had brought my "Uncle Henry" pocketknife that I carry all time, the one with a 6-inch blade!
A young-looking TSA employee saw me toss my knife in the plastic tray at the same time I did. He reached down and took it out of the tray, and he looked at it very closely and said, "This is a nice knife, but you realize you can't take it with you on the plane." I told him yes, it was my mistake for even bringing it, and I knew the rules; he would have confiscate it.
He said, "You don't want me to do that; this is a nice knife. Why don't you take it back to your car; what time is your flight?" I told him my car was near the end of the far parking lot and we figured I would miss my flight if I tried to do that. He thought for a minute and he said I could take it back to the Delta baggage check-in and they probably would be able to put my knife in my previously checked bag. I kinda frowned on that, as they might have already carried my bag to load it on the plane.
He said "OK, follow me, I'm going to walk with you out of customs and take you to the information desk." He said they had envelopes there that I could mail my knife to myself. So that's what we did, and then we returned to the customs area for me to go to my gate.
I am forever indebted to him for trying his best to keep me from losing my pocketknife. So not all of them are inept and rude.
LEW SORRELLS
Brinkley
Seems inconsistent
When we had an intelligent leader in the White House in President Obama, Mitch McConnell told him that the Senate would not take any action with the nominee for the SCOTUS that President Obama had selected.
Now, under this current administration, Mitch doesn't want to bring any bill that the House of Representatives has voted on and moved forward to the Senate unless the current leader will sign it. Hmmmm, I wonder why?
FRED SMITH
Little Rock
Editorial on 10/23/2019