U.S. maternity leave
Re: “Maternity leave in U.S. is far cry from world norm,” July 27.
While your article about the supposed dreadful state of maternity leave in the U.S. may accurately portray that the U.S. is indeed at the bottom in providing maternity leave of the industrialized nations, it fails to mention the direct and hidden costs of maternity leave. The unemployment rates of the most generous providers is significantly higher than that of the U.S. This is no accident, as increased employment costs, like maternity leave, make firms more reluctant to hire workers. Moreover, these costs will ultimately result in lower wages and will unfairly be borne by the young and childless. Lastly, if a company is faced with hiring either a single male or an equally qualified woman of child-bearing age, which person will a company hire if there is long-term maternity leave?
Tim Collins, Lakewood
Tour de France
Re: “Completing the cycle; Armstrong wins seventh straight Tour de France,” July 25 news story.
Well, he did it! I believe Lance Armstrong will go down in history as the most astonishing athlete ever. Having raced a little in my youth and ridden from Denver to Key West and back in 1960, while still 17 (most kids my age were living “American Graffiti”), I know exactly how taxing this sport is. What this young man has done is almost inconceivable. Tour de France announcer Phil Ligget summed it up best when he remarked that this accomplishment will most likely never be equaled at any point in time.
Armstrong is a historical icon and role model for all of us. Way to go, Lance!
Dustin Eaglestone, Littleton
Employing immigrants
Re: “The key to illegals in U.S.,” July 28 Ruben Navarrette column.
Ruben Navarrette’s column on illegal immigration and their harsh treatment and exploitation by U.S. employers unjustly lumps the minority into the majority. Navarrette makes reference to “a lot of janitorial companies” and says that “there are so many U.S. employers who are hungry to find people who will put up with this treatment.” He makes the assumption that these unjust practices are used by many industries as a whole.
As a private teacher of English as a second language who teaches at many of these companies, I have found quite the opposite. Not only do the companies pay for the classes, the employees are payed a decent wage and are dedicated to their job and employer.
One hardly ever hears the flip side of this story – that the vast majority of employers do abide by the rules and benefit the lives of their workers. But I guess that this will continue to be the left’s great untold story.
Robert Glasker, Aurora
Purple Heart flap
Re: “‘Wedding Crashers’ site picks up critic of medal gag,” July 26 news story.
The current flap over proper respect for the Purple Heart medal, used as a film-promotion tool, pales in comparison to the antics displayed at the Republican National Convention last year.
If you recall, Morton Blackwell, a Virginia delegate, handed out Band-Aids with little blue hearts drawn on them in an effort to discredit another party’s candidate, veteran Sen. John Kerry. They also offended every soldier who’s ever come home wounded.
As I watched this going down, I shuddered to think of all the war heroes who were taking it as a direct insult. But I don’t recall it generating the headlines that the “Wedding Crashers” website has.
Paul Trantow, Littleton
