Post-Tribune

Letters to the editor, April 29

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:05:43 -0500

There’s no truth involved in Obamacare statements In reply to a previous letter, I checked with Fact-checker and Snopes.com and there was no confirmation of any of the GOP Congressmen giving back their pay or their health insurance or submitting to random drug or alcohol tests in protest of the federal budget or Obamacare. I wish these “Conservative Christians” or “TeaPublicans” or whatever they prefer to call themselves would check their facts instead of just going out babbling garbage. Just because you tell a lie often enough does not make it true. This is also true of Obamacare causing Medicare …

Letters to the Editor, May 20, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:44:00 -0500

Jimmy Carter’s legacy will show he was among finest History will be kind to Jimmy Carter. No question: Within 100 years or maybe much less, Jimmy Carter will be celebrated as the equivalent of a Protestant/evangelical saint. History will recognize his genuine accomplishment of delicately balancing the imperatives of faith with public policy. In time, we will realize that the tenor of our present partisan comments is a simply a symptom of a passing affliction of hyper-polarized acrimony. Events will surely arise that will cause many more of us to behave like adults. In time, many more of us will …

Letters to the Editor, May 19, 2013

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:10:39 -0500

Taxes aren’t popular, but they might be necessary Have you ever heard you can’t get blood from a turnip, well you can’t get services without taxes either. The Post-Tribune Quickly column is filled with complaints from taxpayers about wanting roads, bridges, landscaping, removal of debris, etc. It takes funds to achieve these goals. The county has cut more than 300 jobs and reduced the budget by $32 million. Councilmen Strong of Crown Point and Dernulc of Highland want more cuts from everywhere. Strong wants to hire an outside source to peek in every closet to see if someone is hiding …

Letters to the editor, May 17

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:08:32 -0500

Instead of destroying guns, let’s give them back to cops While millions of relinquished or confiscated guns are currently being destroyed by federal, state and local governments, why can’t they instead be expropriated for use by law enforcement agencies and/or the U.S. military? At first glance, it would appear that destruction of these firearms will make our streets safer; however, many of these guns will be replaced by new ones sold by gun dealers. Paul G. Jaehnert Vadnais Heights, MN Why wasn’t security better at the Boston Marathon? A congressman from Boston made this statement about the security authority in …

Letters to the editor, May 16

Thu, 16 May 2013 02:08:44 -0500

Marriage is a legal contract, and not just for liberals Interesting letter from Mr. Ziolkowski regarding marriage — hate to break the news to you Gary but there are Republican conservatives who are GAY — some of those GAY Republicans would like to marry. It really is not a liberal progressive thing. It is not a political thing. It is a legal thing. Because you and Adam and Eve think marriage is only between a man and a woman does not make it true. Marriage is a LEGAL contract between two people. In our culture it defines tax, inheritance, property, …

Letters to the editor, May 15

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:08:25 -0500

Let’s put real criminals — like bankers — on the chain gangs Russell Beals — Love the idea of bringing back chain gangs to our prison system. Rather than griping about nickels and dimes why not start putting the REAL criminals in chain gangs — how about the Wall Street whores and Big Bank thieves — the cost of their extremely illegal activities range from $6 trillion to $12 trillion. Throw in a couple unfunded wars at $17 trillion and counting plus another $2 trillion for tax cuts — what did you say our current deficit was, $16 trillion? — …

Letters to the editor, May 14

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:04:58 -0500

Politicians, corporations blame public education Public education: the whipping boy for failed policies of politicians and corporations. Skeptical? A half century ago Sputnik supposedly denoted Soviet superiority. The culprit? Our failing schools. We absolutely must emulate the great USSR schools. After landing a man on the moon did schools receive any credit? Deming went to Detroit advocating better products, automobiles, and was turned away. Japan listened to him. Detroit went bankrupt, or nearly so. Again, we must emulate Japanese schools. Our economy demanded it. American schools? Horrific. Japan’s economy now? Stagnant, even smaller than in 1992. Atlantic magazine, May 2013, …

Letters to the editor, May 13

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:04:41 -0500

Cutting anti-smoking budget a mistake state is making Indiana lawmakers continue to turn a blind eye when it comes to doing what’s right to make Hoosiers healthier and save the state money. One of the most well understood public health problems in the world is tobacco use, yet unbelievably, some of our policy makers are choosing to ignore the data. In Indiana alone, tobacco kills 9,700 people each year and costs the state $2.08 billion annually. This does not have to be. When proper tobacco control policies are in place, we see the toll of tobacco decrease. In California for …

Letters to the editor, May 12

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:06:37 -0500

Spend money domestically, not on other countries For decades we have given borrowed monies, our federal funds and materials to other countries. These are often misnamed, such as lend-lease. Our charity has continued through today as we also have our brave soldiers stationed in over 100 countries, costly world-policemen labeled as peace-keepers. Billions of our tax dollars are given annually to many countries, both friends and foes. This is done by our leaders of both major parties beholden to international interests that fund the politicians for re-elections and control the major media that becomes a propaganda machine for the (international) …

Letters to the editor, May 10

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:29:16 -0500

Sen. Coats went against what most of want with gun vote One of our U.S. senators, Dan Coats, was counted among those who threatened to filibuster, and opposed mandated background checks for persons buying guns through the Internet and gun shows. Apparently, he believes that the Tsarnaev brothers would have been improperly inconvenienced if this law had been in place. What is common sense and reasonable to the people is an infringement to Mr. Coats. Our country’s great and courageous newspapers called the debacle in the Senate what is was. All over the nation, editorials accurately referred to this moral …

Letters to the editor, May 9

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:28:56 -0500

Otters are the cheap solution to Asian carp problems Too much money is wasted on stopping the Asian carp. Simple solution and it is FREE! Trap all the overpopulated river otters that are messing up some farmers’ ponds with fish in them. Take all those trapped otters to the area where the Asian carp can’t be controlled. The otter will have a field day devouring all the Asian carps. Then if the otter get overpopulated again, send them to other areas. But ... that is too simple. Anthony E. Bodo Lake Station Better communication might have stopped bombing The bombing …

Letters to the editor, May 8

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:28:33 -0500

Quentin Smith was a real hero, an honor to know him This morning I watched the movie “Red Tails” for the third time and once again I was left with a great sense of thankfulness. As I pondered my 40-plus year relationship with Quentin Smith, I consider myself blessed to have had him in my life. I invited him to come speak to our students at Elston Middle School in Michigan City and I remember calling him from the U.S. Air Force Academy as I latched onto the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial. I last saw him at Purdue North Central. I …

Letters to the editor, May 7, 2013

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:06:12 -0500

Coats’ vote against gun background checks wrong I hope all Hoosiers will burn this into their memory now. Indiana’s Sen. Dan Coats voted against common sense legislation to require gun purchasers to submit to a background check. His selfish political interest is more important to him than the lives of innocent people, particularly 26 grade school youngsters and their teachers. In direct opposition to the wishes of approximately 80 percent of his constituents, he cast that vote. There must be consequences for his shameful action. If he stands for re-election, he must be soundly defeated. He simply isn’t qualified to …

Letters to the editor, May 6

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:02:28 -0500

Politicians want to start yet another useless war Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, where 3,000 American people lost their lives. But our corrupt government and incompetent politicians are the ones responsible for allowing these terrorists into this country. On top of this they taught the terrorists how to fly our airplanes. George W. Bush was responsible for the Iraq War and killings of over 4,000 American soldiers, 170,000 Iraqi people and Saddam Hussein, all because of his lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. We have …

Letters to the editor, May 5

Sun, 05 May 2013 02:08:46 -0500

The majority doesn’t rule when it comes to gun laws The U.S. Senate just defeated common sense gun control legislation that would have broadened the scope of background checks for individuals wanting to purchase guns. The legislation would not have had a negative effect on Second Amendment rights. It would have simply provided greater safeguards against putting guns into the hands of people who almost everyone agrees should not have them, e.g., convicted criminals and the mentally ill. According to reliable polls, 90 percent of the public supported this legislation. Heartfelt pleas from victims of gun violence, including parents of …

Letters to the editor, May 3

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:48:03 -0500

Don’t trust what the U.S. government says about food Don’t believe what our government says about food: “The Delicious Apple is America’s favorite.” It probably was, but they were subsidizing the apple growers in the state of Washington. They said, don’t eat butter — eat oleo (margarine) that is just dyed lard! The dairy industry wasn’t selling enough oleo. They said — eat chicken — it’s good for you! Well, they sure have done a bang-up job for the poultry business! I wish they would tell us to eat baked ham and roast beef. They said, drink green tea, it …