Letters to the editor Feb. 28

Too many in society take without giving

Welfare and Social Security may have been intended to give worthy people a hand when they need it, but it is having an unintended consequence that is destroying our

society.

Society is predicated on the recognition that individuals cannot live, at least not as well, without it. Individuals need to conform to the rules of society in order to reap the benefits society has to offer. One of the obvious rules of society is that you must contribute. The ancient saying "you reap what you sow" is descriptive.

If you want your children to take care of you in your old age you need to have supported them in their youth. If you want your community and neighbors to support you in times of need, you need to contribute to the community and support your neighbors in their time of need.

But with our current welfare and Social Security system, individuals are taken care of without regard to their contribution. Individuals no longer need to take care of their children, neighbors or society, to be taken care of. Helping a person in need is accepted as a good thing, but too much assistance can be a bad thing.

As we view our failing economy and the plight of welfare and Social Security, I suggest we say good riddance. Without the handouts and bailouts, people will need to earn their keep, and businesses will need to earn our patronage. Those that need a handout will need to have earned it by being at least pleasant and worthy.

Patrick King

Gardnerville

Time for you Gibbons to go

I am concerned about the governing of our state. Our governor is cutting hours from our state employees, putting them at a lower income and making some of them able to qualify for WIC and food stamps. How is this helping our state budget?

Cutting state employee hours also makes it harder for them to pay their house payments and other necessary bills. He is causing more money to be spent by calling for early legislative sessions. It is paying one group of people more money to work longer hours and taking away hours and money from another group.

I am not a state employee but have friends and relatives who are suffering because of his irrational decisions.

Do the people of Nevada want a governor that considers his employees disposable? I don't think so.

I think that the governor should either resign his position or be fired - impeached.

Cathie Milstead

Carson City

OBD's grant application was serious misstep

While I am pleased to see the application by Carson City's Office of Business Development for HUD funds to build a business incubator have been withdrawn, I am still very concerned that it was even submitted.

To ask for and somehow rationalize that the Nugget Project was deserving of $2.1 million of these funds is mindboggling. These monies are intended for economically disadvantaged people, not high-tech incubators. The public is going to have a hard time placing any trust in a city department, Office of Business Development, and by extension, the board of supervisors, when they see that this type of application could have been actually submitted for consideration.

Even though the application was withdrawn, after first being rejected by the review committee, the damage has been done. By applying for these funds, the Office of Business Development has demonstrated that it is not acting in the best interests of the residents of this city. This is just the latest of what many consider a long string of missteps by that department.

Before advancing this project any further I suggest you reach out to the public to regain our trust. Without public approval, the public portion of this project can never be considered successful.

Joe Childs

Carson City

Layoffs' ripple effect hurts local businesses

As you know, small businesses rely on the community to spend their money with us. Every time someone is laid off, or has their hours reduced, it affects small businesses in the area. As the owner of a salon that is supported almost solely by teachers and state workers, any layoffs in these areas affect me

greatly.

Each time the governor states he is going to lay off more workers or require a furlough day, I lose a client. One or two may not sound like much, but in the past two years, I have lost more than 20 clients. That is more than $1,500 of income each month I no longer have.

I realize that the government does not want to raise taxes to support it, but as a business owner who relies heavily on public servants for my own preservation, I am willing to accept an increase in sales taxes to help support the government. Sales taxes are a small gradual increase, and less painful than losing more clients.

If I am forced to go out of business because of the inability of the government to find funding, I will be one more person who is not paying taxes, who is losing their home, who is going onto the welfare rolls, who is no longer contributing to society, but taking from society.

I hope lawmakers take into consideration the welfare of those who pay for the government to run, and raise sales taxes to help fund this deficit.

Tiffany Lewis

Carson City

Smoking in restaurants? No (hack) thank you

While I applaud Mr. Parker's suggestion to legalize pot for tax revenue, I strongly disagree with him about rescinding the smoker's ban in restaurants. He said, "Telling hundreds of millions of potential smokers from around the world that we no longer wish to cater to them is not a bright idea." Really? I think the bright idea would be to not try to kill your customers off with second-hand smoke.

Catering to them exposes most of their other restaurant clients to harmful second-hand smoke and infests their clothes and hair with the horrid stench of cigarettes.

When I ate in casino restaurants, I'd have to bathe and do a load of laundry right afterward because the foul stench of smoke infested my hair and clothes. Most casinos post signs saying they've added new air purifying systems, but that's a joke. The air is still noxious.

While Mr. Parker's idea to rescind the smoking ban in restaurants may make fiscal sense, proprietors would lose their other customers. I know I wouldn't dine in a place where I was forced to inhale smoke.

So let's leave the smoking to the casinos since the smokers have already taken them over and left them unusable for the rest of us, but let's leave our restaurants alone. Most Nevadans would like a pleasant eating experience without suffocating.

Robin Christy

Carson City