Letters

It was a great day to be a Democrat

On behalf of the Carson City Democratic Central Committee, I would like to thank all those who volunteered and participated in our historic caucuses. Local turnout numbers exceeded our estimates. 3305 Democrats participated in Carson City, a 40 percent turnout.

It wasn't a perfect day. Some precincts ran out of preference cards and had to improvise; others experienced long check-in lines, and there certainly was some confusion, but after considering it all, it was a great day to be a Democrat in Carson City!

Many that participated were new to the Democratic Party - either registering on caucus day or one of the hundreds that changed their registration in the weeks prior to Jan. 19. Some of these folks registered just for the day, but most look to our party as the party that will find the solutions to the problems facing our nation today. We welcome you and thank you for participating.

Thank you to all of the caucus day volunteers at each location and to those that volunteered to help or be a caucus chair in your precinct meeting. The day would not have happened without you. You all did an outstanding job and we are in your debt.

Thanks also to the staffs and administration of our site hosts - Western Nevada College, Carson High School, Carson Middle School, Eagle Valley Middle School, Bordewich-Bray Elementary School, Seeliger Elementary School, and the Carson Colony Recreation Center.

Special thanks goes to Caucus Committee Chair Karen McEntire, and the Caucus Committee- Dinah Jordan, Marty McGarry, Rex Harold, Cathy Madsen, Danny Coyle, Margaret Mello and Rob Potter. There were countless meetings, phone calls, faxes, e-mails, site inspections - all of which yielded as organized a caucus day as possible. You should all be proud of your contribution.

Our caucus was not the end of the process, it was only the beginning. We did well, but it was only our mid-term exam. To win, we all need to stay engaged in the process and show up on Election Day in November. I'm looking forward to a record Democratic turnout on Nov. 4. Thanks again.

STEVE PLATT

Carson City

Why are people blaming Harry Reid for caucus problems?

I have seen several letters blaming Sen. Harry Reid for problems at the caucus; the GOP caucus no less. As far as I know, good old Harry's part was to change the date of the Democrat get-together, not the basic caucus format. The Republicans then followed suit. Somebody explain to me why these people are running the country if they can't even run their own caucus. No doubt, it has got to be Harry's fault!

WARREN SPRINKLE

Carson City

Take responsibility for caucus problems

Cry baby Republicans - you blame Sen. Harry Reid for all your mistakes, yet you put a dictator in the White House.

And you live in a Republican State and have a Republican Governor, but you still blame Sen. Harry Reid. If you can't run a caucus that is your fault. Stop your crying and take responsibility for your mistakes.

JAMES STEVENSON

Carson City

Retired people should be part of stimulus package

I am happy that the White House and Congress agreed to a stimulus package that will provide money to people who currently pay taxes. What about us retired folk who paid taxes for years? In my case for over 50 years. We live on Social Security and whatever meager savings we were able to accumulate after having paid our taxes.

We are the people who could benefit the most by receiving a rebate on what we already paid. A simple formula could determine what the rebate check would be. For example, if you paid over $100,000 in your lifetime, your check would be $500 and so forth. We retirees would spend the check on such luxuries as food, gas and medicine.

Let's do the right thing, Bush and Pelosi, and include retired people in the Stimulus Package.

JOHN K. SILBERMAN

Carson City