Letters to the editor 11-26

Better immigration laws needed

Looking at Friday's paper (Nov. 14), we clearly see another fine example of the ill effects of the lack of enforcement of our immigration laws and the lawlessness of the illegal aliens in this country. Pictured there are three men clearly from south of the border that have been arrested for a rash of burglaries in Indian Hills.

On top of that, one of these fine gents wants to be set free to be there for the birth of his child. My first question is about the legal status of the mother. And if she's here illegally, then I think she needs to be deported immediately, before that baby is born in this country. I don't want my tax dollars supporting any more of these criminals.

Why is it that a black, white, red, brown or yellow person that is a citizen of this country must pay their own way but the illegal aliens get everything free?

Both Presidents Eisenhower and Hoover used a much smaller border patrol to deport all the illegals they could find. Who's to say we can't do it again?

These people have come up here to steal our jobs and now that we are losing our jobs, they are breaking into our homes and stealing our property. I say deport them all!

JAMES R. BEYER

Stagecoach

No shame in voting for Barack Obama

I voted for Barack Obama and am not ashamed to say it. What I am ashamed and appalled by is the daily criticism of my intelligence by people who disagree with my views. Every day there is at least one hateful, venomous letter in the newspaper claiming that I voted for him because I am too stupid to understand the issues, because he is black, or because he's a "smooth talker."

Give me some credit! I voted for him because he is the candidate whose positions on issues such as the Iraq war, abortion, education, the economy, and others most closely resemble my own. I want to see some youthful energy and ideas in the White House.

I have friends, co-workers, and family members who voted for John McCain. I assume they made that choice not because they didn't know any better, but because they agreed with his position on important issues.

Unfortunately, not all of them afforded me the same respect. I am surprised when I hear people predict that President-elect Obama will turn us into a socialist nation within two years.

What happened to America being a place where you can have political disagreements? The rhetoric I hear from right-wing Republicans these days sounds as ridiculous to me as that from Islamic fanatics.

Even Colin Powell and our own Sen. Bill Raggio have acknowledged that the Republican Party has alienated a large group of people in the middle that used to be its mainstays.

Like it or not, Obama is going to be our president in January. All those "patriots" who wouldn't tolerate a bad word to be said about George W. Bush because he is the president need to support our new president. And quit with the insulting remarks to over half of U.S. voters already!

SHARON WILSON

Washoe Valley

Too late to ask for support for Obama

Boy, the Democrats sure have great intestinal fortitude!

The Democrats spent untold time and energy blaming and bashing Bush and the Republicans for everything they could think of from global warming to the mortgage fiasco. (Clinton forced the sub-prime mortgages on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and then Pelosi and Obama rejected the 2006 Republican pleas for regulation revisions.)

Now, the Democrats want the Republicans to get behind and support the most inexperienced and socialistic president in the history of this country?

Fat chance.

STUART POSSELT

Minden

Government shouldn't bailout private industry

Instead of the bailout we should have held to the course of looking at each troubled financial institution as they came up. We did this with Lehman Bros. and AIG. We let Lehman go and funded AIG at terms favorable to the U.S. government. Nonetheless, Congress decided to put together a $700 billion gift basket and it is already being abused. It was sold as the solution to the banking crisis but when Uncle Sam starts giving money away, everyone is lining up, including the auto industry and the credit card companies.

Stop rewarding greed and mismanagement. The auto makers can go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganize. The unions won't like it because they would have to give up pension and health care benefits. A bailout would be paid for by tax payers like me so that auto workers could have better health benefits than me. Reorganizing with a realistic cost structure could create healthy auto makers. If the U.S. government is to participate in any auto bailout during a Chapter 11 reorganization it should be on terms very favorable to us.

Credit card companies have been flooding the market with credit to even the worst risks. They priced in this extra risk by charging higher rates to these less qualified folks. Then they got smart and had their Republican Congress change the bankruptcy laws so that people going into Chapter 11 could not get their credit card debt erased. They said it would be immoral to let people use bankruptcy to wipe out their debt. Like it wasn't immoral to issue those cards to people with lousy credit. Now comes the cherry on top of the sundae, they want to tap into the $700 billion bailout fund. Talk about gall!

Unfortunately, I am not eligible to dig into that $700 billion trough.

RONALD H. ADAMS

Dayton