Letters to the Editor

Mass transit maps not idle exercises

Commissioner Allen McCarty and I were given the oath of office on Dec. 27. At the end of the ceremony, I had several maps on display for the audience so they could actually view a realistic picture of what the future holds.

As an aside, both Commissioner McCarty and I were deeply grateful to see so many people attend the ceremony with temperatures in the 20s. We appreciate your support. Read More»

Thanks to ‘our wonderful’ Obama

Just yesterday, I opened my mail to find a wonderful $250 check from Medicare.

This came from the Affordable Care Act, a new law passed by Congress and signed by our wonderful President Obama on March 30, 2010.

With all the negativity surrounding this healthcare bill, and the scare tactics used by some to our seniors, the reality is the Democrats are looking out for the seniors.

This rebate of $250 is sent automatically to people enrolled in Medicare Part D who reach the Medicare drug plans coverage gap (doughnut hole) in 2010. Read More»

The rest of the story about Bill of Rights

In response to Mr. Timothy Parker’s letter in last Wednesday’s edition, I hereby submit the following for your consideration.

Mr. Parker sees no historical basis for Dr. Hendrickson’s claim that, “To the founders, government’s sole legitimate purpose is to protect our rights.”

Yet in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote, “all Men are created equal ... endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ... That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” Seems to me Jefferson is saying government is supposed to protect our rights. Read More»

Chiropractic story has unscientific basis

I write to question the story in The Citizen Weekend, Dec. 24-25, 2010 with the headline, “Study shows resolution of otitis media with chiropractic care.”

As I’m sure you are aware, “studies” such as the one described are usually classified as “Incidental,” implying they are interesting, but not in the least bit scientific.

Requirements for sound experimental designed studies are as follows: Control groups, placebos or sham procedures, blinded procedures, random assignment of subjects to study groups and adequate statistical power. Read More»

Parker’s argument devolves into rant

In a manner not typical of liberals, Tim Parker starts off trying to make a reasoned, logical argument against Dr. Mark Hendrickson’s article from the previous week.

Halfway through his missive, Parker resorts to the tried and true liberal way of arguing an issue; that is, attack your opponents with name calling and hope that will overpower the lack of facts.

Parker’s assault on Rush Limbaugh (“bloated drug addict’) and Glenn Beck (“half-wit”) are specious and lend no substance to his argument. Read More»

Reality: Taxes or cuts; if cuts, specify where

Of newspaper editors, Cal Beverly must certainly be ranked among the fair. While possessing a strong conservative bent, he prints entire letters with which he must strongly disagree.

However it seems even he cannot escape his own prejudices, and this was most apparent in his headline for my Letter to the Editor of last week. It was titled: “So-called conservatives now are playthings of the rich who benefit most but contribute least.” Read More»

Red Hell: A Christmas story about life’s intricate connections

As an 8-year-old, I never really gave much thought to those two words, coined years earlier, I suppose, as the unofficial name for a community of hard-working people. No grass grew there; when it rained, it was muddy, when the weather was dry, it was dusty.

Christmas morning, 1942: Early risers were we three boys, ages 10, 8, and 4. World War Two was on everyone’s minds, and we knew not to expect a lot from Santa. But, we never had much before the war, either. Read More»

It’s Steele who ends up being divisive

You will recall how Peachtree City Mayor Don Haddix was chastised as our proposed representative to Regional Transportation Roundtable (RTR), a group mandated by House Bill 277 for structuring a region-wide sale tax referendum for transportation.

Haddix simply suggested that we look into joining the Three River Region to the south instead of remaining in the ARC. Afterward, Haddix received a stinging reprisal, something akin to a smear campaign, saying he had tarnished our county’s image in our region with his talk. However, nothing could have been further from the truth. Read More»

Tax rates have no effect on job creation

Raising top tax rates for high income individuals kills jobs – right? At least that’s what I keep hearing from politicians and pundits.

Here is the argument: Most small business income taxes are paid by the business owners (because these businesses are typically “flow through” entities like S-corporations, partnerships, etc.). Many of these business owners have high incomes. If you tax these people more, their businesses will have less money to hire people. This is part of the reason we just increased the federal debt by $544 billion to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years. Read More»

So-called conservatives now are playthings of the rich who benefit most but contribute least

Dr. Mark Hendrickson’s article in last week’s Citizen is, I believe, representative of present day conservative intellectualism and its selective choices. The difficulty with intellectually selective choices in the end are their wrongheaded conclusions.

Example: WWI taught French military intellectuals that war favored a strong defense. They convinced the French people and political establishment to spend inordinate sums building an “impregnable” line. Read More»

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