Republican candidates for president
Re: “GOP candidates go on defensive in feisty debate,” May 16 news story.
While watching the Republican presidential candidates’ debate on Tuesday, I was elated to hear a politician expose the truth about the cause for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Congressman Ron Paul explained to the debate moderator and all of the viewers that the flawed foreign policy of the United States is what fuels the hatred for America that makes us a target.
The current administration and the mainstream media are intent to convince Americans that the only reason terrorists and radicals Muslims want to attack us is because “they hate our freedom.”
I hope the honest history lesson Paul tried to give during the debate will enlighten the voters, and help them understand that America’s foreign policy is the cause of hostility towards the U.S., not our culture. Yes, most Middle Eastern Muslims hate Western culture, but more than that they hate the presence of American culture forced into their culture.
Joseph Marty, Colorado Springs
…
John McCain is clearly the candidate who can best win the war in Iraq while protecting us here at home. He knows what the U.S. military can do, what it can’t do, and most importantly what it should not be asked to do. There is no other presidential candidate, either Republican or Democrat, with the combination of military and political experience that McCain brings to the job. He has shown his mettle for his country by refusing to sacrifice principles when under pressure, first as a POW in Vietnam and then during a long career as a public servant. We know who John McCain is. He’s kept faith with the country under trying circumstances. And as president he’ll continue to keep faith in all of us, not as party members or civilians or soldiers, but as Americans.
John Ransom, Littleton
Keeping counties honest about home values
Arapahoe County increased the assessed value of my home by $35,300 from 2004 to 2006. My tax bill is estimated to go up by $322 next year. I don’t know how they can do this with houses in my neighborhood sitting on the market for months and even years without selling and the owners having to come way down in price if they sell at all.
If the assessor doesn’t know the true value of property, they inflate the price and leave it up to you to protest. I don’t have the time to fight the assessment, and why should I have to? It should be the assessor’s responsibility to show convincing proof of what homes are selling for in my neighborhood when they increase my valuation.
What we need is a law to let the owner sell the property to the county for the assessed valuation. The county wouldn’t lose a dime if the property is really worth what they say it is. Maybe they would be more careful if they ended up stuck with property that the owner can’t sell on the open market.
Where is Douglas Bruce when we need him? Maybe it’s time for our own Proposition 13.
Donald Bourne, Aurora
The rise of a second language in the U.S.
There is no reason for Mexican immigrants to learn to speak English when the government and a vast majority of businesses have recordings, instructions, etc., in Spanish as well as English. My last election mailing from Denver had two ballots enclosed, one in English and one in Spanish. In my opinion, if you can’t even understand the language, don’t expect to vote in that country’s election.
The city of Englewood is rapidly following Denver’s example in this respect. The new Lowe’s has all aisle signs in both English and Spanish. Many major businesses in that city are also following suit. Your neighborhood is next!
My daughter works in Denver, and was recently passed over for a well-deserved promotion because she does not speak Spanish. The place she works has since instituted a policy whereby only applicants who can speak both English and Spanish will be considered for employment.
Until the government and business owners stop catering to this specific ethnic group, all we Americans can do is complain and wait for our beloved country to become USA/M.
Terri McBride, Denver
A solution to rising high school dropout rates
Re: “Schools may be cheating on graduation rates,” May 14 Jim Spencer column.
Everyone – from the U.S. Department of Education, to state politicians, right down to business owners – is complaining about the unacceptably high school dropout rates. If they truly want to get serious about keeping teenagers in school, they should consider lobbying to change the minimum driving age to 18.
The law could require a high school diploma or proof of being 18 before a license can be issued. The public then would be surprised (and pleased) at how graduation rates would surge and be a true statistic rather than the fake ones that superintendents are now foisting upon the public. The insurance industry would surely support such a law, for young drivers account disproportionately for a high number of accidents. And to get a 100 percent graduation level, lawmakers could take the issue one step further: no diploma, no job.
Would a teenager choose no job and no driving over staying in school? I don’t think so.
John Murphy, Cañon City
Piñon Canyon site
The Colorado legislature and Gov. Bill Ritter have given their support to the people and groups opposing the expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Marilyn Musgrave have also stated they are opposed to the expansion. We thank every organization and everybody who has given us his or her support in opposition to this expansion.
Now we need Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard to publicly oppose this expansion. The Army stated it would not use condemnation to obtain land needed for the expansion. Then it said it may use condemnation. Allard and Salazar have both stated they are opposed to the Army using condemnation. They need to tell the Army that if it uses condemnation, they will oppose the expansion and refuse to fund it. This would make the Army live up to its word about not using condemnation.
We need to keep this part of Colorado as it is. The property owners in the proposed area of expansion should not have to live under the fear of having their land taken for any reason for an expansion that could be done using land already owned and controlled by the federal government.
Kennie Gyurman, Model
Tony Blair moving on
Re: “Legacy will outlive Blair,” May 11 E.J. Dionne column.
Your juxtaposition of E.J. Dionne’s column about Tony Blair’s legacy with the “Lil’ Orphan Darfur” cartoon is brilliant, though it may have been unintended. Blair’s career, like Bill Clinton’s, speaks volumes for the adage that politics is science of the possible. Blair’s career, marked by an “eloquent vagueness,” left a gaping divide between his ideals and his glaring policy omissions. The so-called Third Way was neither left nor right but mere obfuscation. Blair’s unmitigating support for George W. Bush’s follies has blemished his record and will not escape the searching eye of history. Hopefully, his successor, Gordon Brown, will see the wisdom in other European leaders’ flat rejection of Bush’s follies and follow policies that would serve to counter erratic views emanating from Washington.
Mohamed A. Najmi, Littleton
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