Letters to the Editor April 25

Harry Reid shows courage in face of abuse

Sen. Reid has given us all an exceptional gift with his successful championing and passage of the health care bill. He has supported people in all levels of our country, contributed to their welfare and safety for decades now.

I am retired after four decades of service in health care. The years have proven overwhelmingly that the inequities in the supply of health care for more than a third of our people exist. The profit motive for private insurers is a major contributor to this shortfall. The consequences to those not served are, in too many cases, catastrophic and totally avoidable.

I respect Sen. Reid deeply. He has courageously supported us in spite of the enormous abuse in the emotionally heated, disrespectful and shameful climate of Washington, D.C. I want him to continue to represent us in Washington.

John Wallace

Dayton

Unpleasant surprises await in health care reform

Thanks to a couple of bribes, arm twisting and closed door meetings, we now have Obamacare - whether we want it or not. Some of the good parts of this new law are well-known, such as not denying insurance to people with a pre-existing condition, but what I would like to know is what's in the other 2,700 pages of this law.

I have a feeling there are going to be some unpleasant surprises for the taxpaying public somewhere down the line. I wonder how many members, if any, of Congress - or even the president - read the entire thing before they signed it. And if they didn't, how could they in all good conscience sign into law a bill they haven't read all the way through, especially a bill that basically affects every citizen in the United States?

The other troubling aspect of the so-called health reform is, if it is as wonderful as Congress and the president say it is, why have they exempted themselves from joining in? That's a question I asked of both our senators and the president himself, and none answered the query. Surprise, surprise.

Marilyn Sturges

Carson City

Sandoval can get state back on track

We all know that it was not a coincidence that two weeks after Brian Krolicki announced he was running against Harry Reid for the U.S. Senate seat that some trumped-up charges were filed against Krolicki, which could have ruined his life and his career. Of course, the charges were dropped as soon as the damage was done.

Now Rory Reid's dear friend, Mr. Hart, is running a slanderous ad against Brian Sandoval, which has the facts so twisted and is so out of context, it should never have been allowed to run on TV.

I hope the people of Nevada will do the research and get the true facts about Sandoval and, for that matter, get the facts about Rory Reid. You will find that Sandoval is the only politician for over a decade who really cares about the state of Nevada and he has a plan which, if allowed to implement, could get this state back on the right track.

Do your own research. Check the facts, then make up your own mind about how to vote.

Olive Miller

Minden

Columnist got facts wrong on IRS agent surge

Unfortunately the commentary by Dennis Johnson in the Nevada Appeal April 15 contains a good deal of misinformation that is being repeated over and over again, not just by him, but also by Republicans such as Rep. Dean Heller and Newt Gingrich.

I will concentrate on the most popular of the GOP's misinformation spin, which is their claim that health care reform will lead to the hiring of 16,000 more IRS agents to enforce the regulations.

The Congressional Budget Office predicted that costs related to the Affordable Care Act would probably include an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years for administration costs of the IRS. This money isn't to audit people or enforce the individual mandate. It's primarily to administer subsidies to qualifying small businesses and individuals.

Republicans are using the

$10 billion high-end estimate to mislead. There's a big difference between an IRS agent - who calls on taxpayers and conducts face-to-face audits - and the workers who make up the bulk of IRS employees. IRS revenue agents make up only 15 percent of the entire IRS workforce.

The alleged hiring of an additional 16,000 IRS agents is an extrapolation of the CBO report by the GOP to mislead and garner support for political purposes. Mr. Johnson also failed to mention that the CBO report estimates a net reduction in the federal deficit of $143 billion over that same 10-year period.

Jenny Smith

Carson City

Frequently late employee gets no sympathy

This is in regards to Rick Olmsted's letter on April 15. Ten one-minute tardies and other additional tardies are unacceptable. I would have fired you on the arrival of your third one-minute tardy. My son is more punctual arriving to school every day - 15 to 20 minutes before the bell rings, and he is 7 years old. I myself leave for work a half hour early and have never been late to work in the last five years.

If you are being paid to work from 9 to 5, that does not mean 9:01 to 5. If you're supporting a family of four, I highly recommend being a responsible adult.

Justin Jackson

Carson City

City plays fast and loose with our money

I read with amazement about the latest Board of Supervisors actions. If the events produce $400,000 to $500,000, why is it necessary for the board of supervisors to approve $75,000 of taxpayer dollars to hold the events? With that much profit, surely the merchants could come up with the necessary funds.

Molly Walt said the 8,222 people that used the ice rink would agree that the rink enhanced their quality of life. That number is of course very wrong. The figure is the number that paid to skate, it does not take into account the repeat customers. I give Pete Livermore a great deal of credit for attempting to stop this issue.

Second item is the Jarrard Ranch purchase for $3.72 million. That is a fine price to pay for river bottom land that can only be used for grazing cattle. It is great to have access to the river but when we are laying off police and firemen, I think our dollars can be better spent.

The third item is the Nugget project. I have no problem with the project, but I see no way that the city should go $41 million in debt with the existing economy.

When you go to the polls to vote, please know who you are voting for and select someone that thinks before they spend your money. I strongly suggest Sean Lehmann for Ward 1.

Visit his website at seanlehmann.com.

Gene Carhart

Carson City