March 21, 2008 02:23 pm
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No candidate can fulfill all promises
I am a registered voter but do vote on what the various candidate say they want to get done.
No one running for president or governor can do the things they promise; all they can do is try to influence the legislative body to pass laws to the effect of what they would like to see happen.
One of Governor Beshear’s first statements was we need to start working to replace Senator McConnell, who is a Republican. I think we need to keep him in, if for no reason other than he has enough seniority to help Kentucky from his committee status and leadership position.
Granted, as the leader of the minority party, he has curtailed some of the ideas advanced by the Democrats, but that is the job of the minority party.
The Independent has twice made a point of the fact that the Senator has an $11 million dollar war chest to work from in his re-election bid. Personally, I feel it is wrong that anyone running for office be allowed to solicit and take campaign funds from out of their district.
Senators should not be allowed to take funds from people or corporations and companies not domiciled in Kentucky and representatives should not be allowed to do so from the districts they don’t represent. This should include all elected offices down to the lowest elected officials.
I am aware that the U.S. Supreme Court does not feel this way as they say this restriction would be in violation of free speech, but I think they sometimes take a long reach in some of their definition and interpretations of the Constitution.
Everyone running for office says they want to help the middle class. I would like a definition of “middle” class.
Warren R. Bocard, Ashland
Terrorists prefer the Democrats
The Democratic Party with its obsessive desire to create a nation of sheep should change its donkey logo to a follow-the-leader sheep. Sheep-like citizens who recognize their incompetence in spending incomes wisely should send the majority of their incomes to the brilliant bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., and utilize their expertise in wisely spending taxpayers money.
The quest of the liberal left-wing news media to insist a recession is in place brings to mind the 1992 misinformation agenda they used to help put an ultra-liberal Democrat in the White House. They posted pictures of closed factories blaming the Reagan/Bush administrations. The factory closings resulted from the accelerated decline of heavy industry brought on by the idiotic inept implementation of the Environmental Protection Act.
The 20 percent interest rates caused by the policies of Carter and his Democratic-controlled Congress resulted in great numbers of industries closing their doors. Hillary and Barack are now attempting to blame the present Bush administration for the lost jobs in Ohio, which are the same jobs lost 30 years ago, mainly in Mahoning Valley steel mills.
There is one certainty. Democrat politicians would never mislead or lie to voters, and if you believe that, there is an excellent bridge in Brooklyn for sale cheap.
Cut-and-run Democrats and the news media who claimed ties between Saddam and terrorists groups did not exist were shot down by recent findings released from the thousands of captured Iraqi documents.The Homeland Security Administration personnel should expect no large attacks before November, according to Hillary's statement last fall stating that such an attack would result in electing a Republican to the White House. Terrorists obviously prefer a cut-and-run Democrat rather than a Stand-Your-Ground Republican as president
Robert G. Brewer, Vanceburg
County a no-show during snow storm
The snow that fell March 6, 7, 8 and 9 blocked Miller Farm Road. My wife and I could not get in and out. An ambulance or fire truck could not have gotten to us if we would have needed them.
On Saturday, March 8, I called 911 and asked them to get us some help., Help never did show up. The UPS truck could not get up the hill to bring my March medical supplies to me.
I guess we are not important enough for Greenup County Judge-Executive Bobby Carpenter and Commissioner Tony Quillen to help us. I did not call Quillen because he told me about two years ago that people living on Dry Fork and Wingo should call Lewis County to fix their roads and clear off the snow.
Dry Fork, Wingo and Miller Farm Road are in Mr. Quillen’s district in Greenup County. I guess that shows what Mr. Quillen thinks about the people in far western Greenup County.
Ronald D. Miller, South Shore
HB 40 merits a fair hearing
I’m writing in hopes of reaching readers of The Independent who are concerned about strengthening families and the values that make families strong. The Family Foundation has published a special edition of its newsletter in which five pieces of legislation and one issue — casinos — are presented.
The one I want to focus on is Senate Bill 40.
This bill has three components meant to protect the unborn and their mothers. It would (1) ban partial birth abortion, (2) require abortionists to give mothers an opportunity (not force) to see an ultrasound of their babies, and (3) mandate face-to-face informed consent — a standard procedure for anyone undergoing surgery.
On Feb. 7, SB 40 was approved by the full Senate by a vote of 32-4. To date, it languishes in the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairperson Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, has made it clear that she has no intention of letting SB 40 out of committee unless perhaps she is told to do so by House leadership.
One of the most powerful House leaders is Majority Leader Rocky Adkins. His constituents in Boyd, Lawrence, Elliott and Rowan counties have the privilege of supporting him in this pro-life effort. Call Rocky at 1-800-372-7181 or e-mail him at rocky.adkins@lrc.ky.gov and give him this message: You’re a key in seeing that HB 40 gets a fair hearing, which may demand that it be placed in another committee.
Act today. It is a matter of life and death. The lives of the commonwealth’s next generation are at stake.
At this Easter season as we joyfully celebrate the new life Jesus won for us by his death a resurrection, let us in humble gratitude extend that gift of life to the unborn.
Father Ralph W Beiting, Louisa
Does Israel control Gaza, West Bank?
I can’t allow Elaine Washburn Shiber’s letter of March 18 to go unchallenged.
You don’t occupy a country militarily unless you control it. So, if the U.S. rules Iraq, why has the price of gasoline almost tripled? If Israel controls Gaza and the West Bank, why did Israel forcibly evict its own citizens, watch synagogues be desecrated and endure rocket attacks? For the record, Gaza was occupied by Egypt. When Judea and Samaria was renamed the West Bank, Jordan had it.
When Israel became a nation on less than a quarter of the land promised, the Arab nations started a war that created 620,000 Palestinian refugees. At the same time, the Arab nations created 820,000 Jewish refugees. Israel absorbed most of them, along with millions from World War II. Yet the wealthy Arab nations have done little to ease the suffering of either.
The Turks weren’t Arab and ruled from Istanbul. Britain and Israel both have Arabs in government. Palestinians do not. So who is really the most prejudiced?
If we blindly supported Israel, there’s be no road map for peace and we’d actually be involved in their military affairs.
There’s a big difference between loving your neighbors and allowing them to terrorize your community.
If Christ were alive today, I believe he’d wonder why too many of his followers make excuses for terrorists and condemn those who stand up for Israel.
Sylvia McClelland-Morrison, Ashland
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