Letters to the Editor 04/13/2011

To the Editor:

Mr. Wessel stated in his guest column, "Social Security (SS), Medicare/Medicaid and defense are the biggest budget-busting items we have by far." Social Security is NOT part of the federal budget and has NOT contributed one cent to the deficit. It is a separate defined benefit retirement plan that may have funding problems in the future, but those can be remedied when the time comes.

Medicare is a health insurance program for seniors that has some built-in future funding problems, but then, every health insurance program in this country has future funding problems, but Medicare has NOT contributed one cent to the current deficit.

That only leaves defense as the single largest budget-busting item, and Mr. Wessel is entirely correct about that. However, so far congress has refused to pay for the endless wars that the U.S. starts, instead choosing to borrow money from China and other foreign countries to prosecute those wars. That is what will bankrupt this country long before Social Security and Medicare.

These errors make me seriously doubt the rest of the arguments in his column.

Dean Billing

•••

To the Editor:

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks, since the weather started warming up, an increase in dog poop on the Peterson Ridge Trail where I often walk my dogs. I also see it other places, too.

When you walk your dog(s), please try to bring a plastic bag to pick up after them. Perhaps even bring a spare, so that if you see someone who forgot theirs, you can offer it to them.

Keeping our trails clean has many benefits. Users can enjoy trails and areas more if they are not stepping in or riding in dog poop. It's more hygienic. Research has shown that waste contaminates the ground. It then can be a mode of passing intestinal parasites and infections to dogs and people. You can prevent possible parasite infestation and re-infestation in your own dog just by picking up poop.

If your dog contracts parasites, it can then involve veterinary expense. Following this line of thinking, perhaps by picking up dog poop, you might save on vet bills.

Because of contamination, mess and smell, dog poop can be offensive to people in the community. It often becomes a reason to ban dogs from areas. As a dog owner, I love walking my dogs at Peterson Ridge and many other places around Sisters. I would hate to lose that privilege. By doing just this one thing, you can help to keep our trails and town beautiful to be enjoyed by all users.

Karen Kassy

•••

To the Editor:

How does Matt Wessel "Professional Scientist" (whatever that means) rate a full column to present his laughably silly diatribe against Robert Reich? (The Nugget, April 6, page 2.)

Robert Reich has forgotten more about economics than Wessel ever learned. The Laffer curve is "baloney," and should be called the "Horselaffer Curve." Even David Stockton, Reagan's first budget director, ridiculed Laffer's goofy supply-side arguments as have most sentient economists who aren't living in Wessel's dream world.

Wessel also quotes the Cato Instititute, an alleged "Think Tank" founded and funded by one of the right-wing Koch brothers. The Cato parasites, bankrolled by greedy billionaires, sit around conjuring up ludicrous economic theories no sane person takes seriously, and making up lies about public employees making "more" than private employees. The truth happens to be the opposite.

Also, government employment is not on the rise, it is, in fact, dropping all over the country. Furthermore, Reich, who was a SS trustee, and virtually every non-conservative ideologue has pointed out that Social Security is solvent until 2047 and can be "fixed" by raising the wage bar from the current $106,000 of income per year to a higher figure that is politically viable.

R.T. Tihista

•••

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to your guest columnist of April 6. While I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion, political ideology, and world view bias, I was disappointed that his essay would actually make full guest column status in your newspaper.

He evidently believes that what he has to say is more important and deserving than Robert Reich. By the guest columnist's tone, the implication is that anyone who has an opinion different than his own is worthy of scorn.

I could not disagree more with his final paragraph. The point of the opinion page is to have a variety of different points of view, not just one with which you can agree.

I say keep Robert Reich, but also continue with rotating others such as Joel Brinkley, David Brooks and so on. I would even be fine with an occasional one from the CATO Institute (Mr. Wessel's conservative, libertarian think tank of choice that he quoted in his article).

I hope your opinion column, even though coming from a small-town newspaper, continues to explore the wide variety of political thought and analysis out there in our country and does not get bullied by a single point of view.

Gwen Hanson

s s s

To the Editor:

Last weekend, we attended the 50th annual Reno Jazz Festival at the University of Nevada. This is a show where hundreds of the best student jazz musicians from middle school through college level play before an audience of their peers and the public, as well as highly critical judges.

Those young musicians - instrumentalists and singers - were a cross-section of our society, from all over the country. They demonstrated a quote in the current issue of Downbeat Magazine that says: "Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but is a gift that America has given the world."

Included on the Reno stages were groups from our own Sisters Middle School and Sisters High School, taught and directed by Jody Henderson. When awards were announced Saturday night, the SHS Jazz Band had received second place in their classification, and the high school Jazz Combo fifth place.

We could not have been more delighted for the students and their mentor. The competition was tough! But, there is more. We asked Don, the experienced driver of the charter bus that had brought the group to Reno: "How did you get along with those wild Outlaws from Sisters?" His sincere reply was, "Oh, that's a great bunch of kids!"

We believe their parents, and this community, can be very proud of those talented musical ambassadors and the teacher who took them to there.

Lois and Tom Worcester

•••

To the Nugget:

Robert Reich wrote in The Nugget's March 30 article that "Republicans apparently believe that if big lies are repeated often enough people start to believe them."

Matt Wessel's April 6 article then goes on repeating those same lies. He sites the Cato Institute, a "think" tank founded by the right-wing billionaire Koch brothers who also finance groups such as the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity and many others who do "research" and publish studies that just happen to support economic policies that benefit the people who fund them.

So when you hear the Republicans say they want to balance the budget by screwing with your Social Security and Medicare, don't believe it. They're not interested in balancing the budget.

Regarding the GOP 2012 budget plan, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that by the end of the 10-year budget window, public debt will actually be higher than it would be if the GOP just did nothing. Sure Medicare needs fixing - our entire healthcare system needs fixing - but believe this: Republicans are not interested in fixing the Medicare problem; they want to end it.

Terry Weygandt