Meaningless gripes
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why all these people are griping about the digital version of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette paper. I was one of those who read the paper version every day. When the digital version came out and we no longer had a choice, I changed over to reading the digital form. With the use of the iPad, there really isn't any difference.
Get a grip, people. And you know what? You don't have to read the paper, it's your choice.
JEAN WHITE
Little Rock
Silence confounding
Last Monday's letter titled "Call Diamond Hogs" hit a note with me. As an LSU fan, I can't figure out why Wally Hall had nothing to say about the recent Hog sweep of the Tigers. You can bet the LSU sportswriters had plenty to say ...
RAYMOND BATTLE
Little Rock
Fight identity fraud
I am begging everyone to contact their state legislators, congressmen, senators, and the governor. Our elected officials aren't doing enough to combat identity theft and fraud. If you've never been a victim, it's just a matter of time, and almost no one wants to help you.
I have been turned over to collection agencies by AT&T/DirecTV four times in the last two months for fraudulent accounts opened in my name. I have had to go to the police station and fill out a report and provide the collection agencies with lots of personal information to prove I'm not a crook. It's all on the consumer.
We must stop large corporations not doing due diligence before signing people up for services and then forcing innocent people to take time off from work and worry about their credit scores. Again, if you haven't had this headache, you will. Please help!
PAUL THOMPSON
Maumelle
Solid goals for GOP
A British writer, G.K. Chesterton, in the mid-1920s, observed that "The whole modern world has divided itself into conservatives and progressives. The business of the progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected."
In the main I believe this to be a fairly accurate description. I would add that from my perspective the progressives (Democrats) believe that any ill can be corrected by throwing money at it. If things go awry, throw more money. It would be useful to establish what you want to achieve with measurable metrics, be sensitive to the inevitable waste, fraud, and abuse and be ready to correct behaviors with penalties, prosecution, and tweaking. This could be the role of the conservatives (Republicans), but they rarely take up the challenge constructively.
As an example: The infrastructure bill will be a classical example of funds mismanagement. Many of the goals are worthy, but as usual we are likely to get far less than we should for our tax dollars.
I'd like the Republicans to forget about showboating through investigating things of little or no consequence. I'd rather that they began developing the tools to identify and correct the problems inherent in the Democrat-sponsored initiatives. Spending smart and producing outcomes that save money and make the country better off are solid goals, measurable and useful in burnishing the party's declining reputation.
ROD NEAL
Little Rock
Thankful for paper
I just finished reading columns by Philip Martin and Guy Lancaster in a recent edition and thoroughly enjoyed both. They reminded me of why I am very grateful that we still have a good locally owned newspaper with a commitment to good reporting and investigation of local news and also really good and thoughtful regular writers such as Mr. Martin and Steve Straessle, John Brummett, Tommy Foltz, Rex Nelson, Bryan Hendricks, as well as the occasional contributions from other local folks such as Mr. Lancaster.
More proof that Arkansas is God's favorite! Keep up the good work.
MARK WOOD
Arkadelphia
Seems a worthy idea
I was very pleased to read that a person donated the money to build a new fire station.
No objection that they insisted that it be named for Donald Trump. He's so prone to starting them, maybe they can put them out!
SCOTT HEARN
Little Rock