Aug. 14 Letters to the Editor

Restore constitutional order

Bailouts, layoffs, foreclosures, social decay, family destruction and endless wars. Most don’t know it, but virtually every problem that America now suffers is the direct result of violations of the Constitution by our (servant) government.

Finally, there is hope. This November, publicly elected citizen-delegates representing the people of each state will convene at a national assembly known as “Continental Congress 2009.” The purpose of this historic event is to formally document the violations and develop strategies the people can employ to peacefully resist tyranny and restore constitutional order.

It’s time to hold our servant government accountable and reclaim the Light of Liberty. Learn more about Continental Congress 2009 and the true power of popular sovereignty at www.GiveMeLiberty.org.

Thomas Weese

Longview

We need a people’s government

I have a problem with the current congressmen and rest of the government managing anything, The government tried to run the Mustang Ranch, a house of prostitution that sold sex and alcohol, and failed miserably. A pimp can run a business like that out of a car.

What we need is a government that is a people’s government. Maybe a new political party that is neither Republican or Democratic should be formed to represent the people. It doesn’t matter what party is in office, lobbyists are the ones who eventually get what they want at taxpayers' expense. Remember the $400 claw hammers and $600 toilet seats we paid for? Lobbyists helped that happen.

The government criticized auto industry officials for flying to Washington in corporate jets. Yet they buy private jets for our sorry congressmen to fly anywhere on a lark. How many do they already have? Can’t they help the airline industry by flying with them?

Why don’t congressmen pay Social Security? Why don’t they pay for their medical?

Are politicians that much better than their constituents?

Willie Bowen

Kelso

Editor’s Note: The Mustang Ranch was seized by the government in a 1990 bankruptcy proceeding, but the government did not attempt to operate it. Members of Congress pay into Social Security, but do not collect it. Members do have access to excellent health care, but it is not free.

Citizens have a right to speak

It seems that our Washington senators and representatives are going a bit overboard with their concern about the citizens' opinions on the health-care bill. They seem to be forgetting just who it is they represent in Congress. They also seem to forget that we have a right to speak our minds when we do not agree with their level of representation.

Considerable effort is being made to make those who are objecting appear to be an unruly bunch of clods. Here again, their memories are quite short. They seem to forget the number of times that a conservative gets shouted down by a gang of liberals and often run right off the stage. They also forget just how badly they shouted at George Bush just a few years ago. It should probably be pointed out to these folks that it is not just the conservatives who are objecting, but a lot of those who voted for President Obama in the same crowd.

Congressman Brian Baird has complained about recent death threats. We hope Baird understands that the death threat contained in the health-care bill for seniors, while a bit more subtle, is just as serious.

Judith Schwindt

Silver Lake

Make it simple

It’s easy for the recyclers to complain and the city council to respond with a penalty on offending households. They’ve solved the problem, right? Unfortunately, it not always that simple.

Walking the Old West Side each day you observe the guy on the bicycle in the alley dumping the plastic bag in a bin, not the right bin, just a bin, or the older model black Honda stop and the driver gets out, opens his trunk and the same thing happens. In each of these cases, the homeowner or apartment owner will be tagged and eventually lose their recycle privilege and end up paying more.

You can regulate to raise money, but you have to educate if you want results. Color coding has worked in other areas. Green for yard waste, blue for recycling, black for garbage and red for hazardous waste items. Make it simple, make it easy, it will happen.

Virgil Warden

Longview