OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Vote no on sales tax | Must be cooperation | Blame not all Biden's

Vote no on sales tax

My letter printed July 30 asked Little Rock voters to vote against the proposed 10-year 1 percent sales-tax increase. This tax increase replaces the 0.375 percent capital improvement tax that will expire at the end of this year. Since then, letters by Tim Irby and Tom Zaloudek have echoed my sentiment.

I have since learned that there will only be five early voting days (Sept. 7-10 and Sept. 13) before the Sept. 14 vote, and that there will be very few early voting sites, most likely libraries. It is obvious to me that this is being done to sway the election.

I reiterate that this is overreach and excessive. This tax increase is going to be the worst thing that has ever been thrust upon the taxpayers and voters. I encourage voters to watch for early voting sites and locations, and put these dates on a calendar to make sure that you vote no on this sales-tax increase.

JAMES FORD

Little Rock

Must be cooperation

I couldn't understand why there is so much rental assistance not being claimed until I learned the process. We own a few rental properties and are members of the Arkansas Landlord Association. Our tenants are all current on their rent and have been all through the pandemic. I got an email from the Landlord Association about getting rental assistance. The process is that the landlord must fill out the forms and name the tenant that is behind, along with their email address and phone number. This goes into the system and the tenant receives an email to fill out their paperwork. At this point, it is up to the tenant to follow through. The money does not go to the tenant, it goes to the landlord.

Problem one is that the landlord must have the tenant's email address. That is not something we have or have a need to know. Problem two is that the tenants are probably not happy that they will not get the money. With the ban on evictions, it probably doesn't matter to them if the landlord is paid or not.

Let me say that I know there are very good, conscientious tenants out there. I'm not saying all tenants are bad. When one of our tenants tells us why they are going to be late and lays out a plan to catch up, we are happy to work with them. I'm getting off-base, but I think the procedure for getting the money is relying on the tenant to want their landlord to get the money. Right or wrong, that is how it works and they have to cooperate.

KAREN HERBERT

Little Rock

Blame not all Biden's

Imagine you're co-piloting that plane with Captain Sullenberger and, as it approaches the Hudson, he stands up and says, "you can take it from here" and leaves the cockpit. That's just about what Trump did to Biden in Afghanistan.

PATRICK KECK

Maumelle

Future for Arkansas

The virus crisis has taught us two things: Half of Arkansans have gone unvaccinated, and this half will apparently never be vaccinated--no matter what. Nothing that has happened or ever will happen will change these people's minds. Period.

So where does this leave us? It's likely that the future of Arkansas will look like this: (1) Since Arkansas will never reach herd immunity, the virus will rage on for years. New and ever more deadly variants will pop up, causing more deaths in all ages and further decreasing our life expectancy. (2) Our health-care facilities will continue to be overrun, leading to higher and higher health-care costs and to more and more burnout of health-care workers. Nurses will decline in great numbers. (3) Economic growth will stagnate as fewer and fewer businesses and highly skilled people consider locating here. Would you want to bring your children into a state where the Legislature seeks to expose students and teachers to great danger by design? (4) As the schools continue to plummet, Arkansas will move from being the fourth-least-educated state to rock bottom. (5) Tens of thousands of us will continue to avoid restaurants and stores that are populated by hordes of unmasked, unvaccinated patrons who parade up and down the aisles with smug looks of superiority.

This or something like it is Arkansas' future. Care to stick around?

SANDY WYLIE

Bella Vista

Nothing but cowards

People can blame Joe Biden for the rapid collapse of Afghanistan if they want; however, I believe the blame falls on the Afghan army. What a bunch of cowards; the Taliban have no use for cowards. Since the Afghan army gave the weapons we supplied them to the Taliban, does that mean these cowards are insane?

Thank you to all Americans that fought with honor. I think our troops served America bravely. The scars of war our troops suffer should be our greatest concern. Health care for our own has always seemed to be a topic least reported.

JEFF LAHA

Little Rock

Legislators reckless

Reading last Wednesday's paper, I noticed that 31 percent of active covid-19 cases were for children. Then I remembered Trent Garner's ridiculous op-ed from last Sunday about "personal freedom" and keeping masking mandates out of local school boards.

Does he just not care about children catching covid-19? Do the legislators arguing the case before the Arkansas Supreme Court not care either? Their recklessness confounds me.

JILL ESCHBACHER

North Little Rock

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