June 20, 2009 11:14 pm
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• Working families in America are hurting
Working families in America are hurting. Today, more Americans are unemployed, without proper health care, and face mortgage foreclosures.
Now is not the time for partisan politics. Members of Congress must rise above ideology and special interests to address the issues of the very Americans who have entrusted them with their voice. America desperately needs real leadership. Congress should pass the Employee Free Choice Act to allow American workers to form unions easily and grow the middle class. Only when more Americans have jobs with paychecks that can provide for a family, with proper health care, will the economy be on its way to recovery.
More union members in America means more Americans with better wages, thus a higher standard of living. Studies show for instance that women in unions are significantly more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and an employer-provided pension. With about 40 percent of American families headed by women, there is no doubt that our country will be better off with more women union members.
Opponents of the employee Free Choice are spending considerable resources to fight the bill under the false pretense that unions are bad for business and that the bill will prevent American workers from having a secret ballot election. Their claims are simply inaccurate and misleading. The Employee Free Choice Act offers a fair alternate method to workers. History also teaches us that in tough economic times, encouraging union membership puts the economy on the path to strong economic growth.
Lynn Cooper
Hahira
• Never good enough for some people
The retired Air Force brigadier gen. highlighted negative points about our 44th president of the United States in his letter to the editor.
I will omit his criticism of President Barack Obama in mine. Mainly because the American people have been living in shock and awe since Obama started his run for the Office of President of the United States.
And regardless of what he or his wife, Michelle, does there is always something wrong with them. They are either too fat or too skinny, their hair is too curly, or too straight, too rich or too poor, too tall or too short, not qualified or over qualified to be president, he is too early or too late for an appointment, but there is always something wrong.
If he is a Christian he should have been a Muslim, he is too far left or too far right of center, if he smokes, he should stop smoking, he is either with us or he is against us. But there is always something wrong according those who are asking God to apologize for not making him perfect like his critics.
And if the Messiah Jesus returned today there are those who would complain and say that Jesus is either too early or too late, and that there is always something wrong in our world. So our beloved president must continue to reach out beyond our borders to help build a more peaceful world. God bless all of his creations.
George Boston Rhynes
Ret. United States Air Force
Valdosta
• United we stand?
‘United we Stand, divided we fall.’ Leaders have known the truth behind this famous quote and motto since the beginning of socialized man. So here are some questions for you. Is the United States united? Have our leaders been uniters or dividers? Are you an American? And lastly are you safer?
There are many different ways to approach these questions so here is my way. An American is not German, British, French, African, Native, Japanese, Chinese, or Mexican ... They are not Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim… They are not young, old, working, retired, laid off, unemployed, disabled…They are not male, female, gay, bisexual… They are not rich, poor, or middle class. Yet every day we are bombarded from our leaders and media with these differences and reasons for special treatment or causes.
So what is an American? An American is a person with strong moral standards. A person concerned with the safety of the nation. A person who has rights which were based on natural law, which the founding fathers defined as those laws given by God. They can stand up on their own two feet and improvise. They are resilient when there is a set back. They are proud of their nation. And most of all they are united when threatened.
So back to the original questions is our nation threatened right now? Do our leaders and ourselves have moral standards? Do our leaders pit one classification of person against another? Do we pit one class of person against another or do we see ourselves as some special class of person?
To me the obvious answers to these questions are, as a nation, all negative.
A large part of our population would answer many of these questions with the wrong answers because of one major reason the lack of moral standards. If we do not as a nation reflect and return to moral standards we will be destroyed. Right now we are teetering on the preface of that destruction.
What can you do? First and foremost reflect on what are your moral
standards and why, if you do not have any then you are the problem. Second read and educate yourself. Next get involved with your community to help educate and communicate moral standards and monitor our leaders. When a leader has a lapse of moral standards (which is scarily present a lot nowadays) hold them accountable. Even if they were “your guy” it should not matter because they disrespected your trust.
United as one nation to protect our individual freedoms as defined by God.
Jeffory Korson
Alapaha
• Deafening silence
I was expecting the usual diatribe from Cal Thomas in regard to President Obama’s recent visit to the Middle East. After all, he had commented on this trip in advance and, as usual, had dispersed inaccuracies, if not lies, about the situation in Palestine. Thus, he stated on June 3 that “Israel is on the receiving end of pressure to do more and relinquish more land, though it gets nothing in return each time it has done so.” — What nonsense!
I have already pointed out that Israel has been violating various UN resolutions for more than four decades by now. At the same time, Israel is continuing to annex land in the West Bank (which it occupies since 1967) by allowing the construction of illegal Israeli settlements and by building a “security fence,” further chipping away at Palestinian lands. In other words, Israel is increasing NOT decreasing its (illegal) land holdings.
So why is Cal Thomas silent on Obama’s speech in Cairo? The answer may be quite simple. Just read some commentaries in Israeli newspapers and on Israeli Web sites:
“The speech was balanced, but this is exactly the problem … For light years we were spoiled by the lack of U.S. balance in our favor … The speech yesterday is the beginning of a ‘new countdown’ in the relations between Washington and Jerusalem (Eitan Haber, Yediot Aharonot).
“Obama left no room for doubt: The United States supports Israel, yet the era of trickery, promises, and the gradual annexation in Judea and Samaria is over … The time has come for moving towards a resolution of the Palestinian problem… Barack Obama’s speech was meant to make it clear to Netanyahu who the master of the house is (Attila Somfalvi, Ynetnews.com).
“It was not only before Islam and the West, but also … before Israel, the Palestinians and the Arabs that an opportunity for a new beginning was laid out in Cairo yesterday… The government of Israel, like that of the Palestinians, has no right to ignore this opportunity and place it in the drawer alongside all the other missed opportunities. The price of missing out will not be measured in the quality of relations with Washington, but in human lives.” (Editorial, Ha'aretz)
Dr. Michael G. Noll
Valdosta State University
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