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Letters to the Editor
October 24, 2009
Texas City Football Team Such A Class Act
I had the pleasure of attending the Region 17 4A and 5A Marching Contest held at Sam Vitanza Stadium in Dickinson on Oct. 20.
I want to acknowledge the class act that is the Texas City High School football team and their athletic director, Tim Finn, for also attending.
That’s what I call leadership. It was very much appreciated by all.
Charles Hardage
Texas City
Editor’s note: The following is the text of a letter as written and sent to President Barack Obama.
An Open Letter To President Obama
Mr. President, you have been handed an opportunity like no other president has had since Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II.
You can nationalize the United States mass media by executive fiat and eliminate much of the unwarranted criticism you have been experiencing.
Why now? You have most of the mass media in your corner now so I do not believe ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN will object at all so only Fox News is left to remove from the mass media rolls.
Most of the major newspapers are also in your corner so only a few independent rags like The Wall Street Journal will be left to control.
So it is imperative that you act now while you have the personal clout, the Congress and have a 50-50 shot at a favorable Supreme Court ruling.
Just imagine how much easier governing would be without all the negative harassment by a few surly news outlets. I can see clear sailing ahead for you and your progressive programs for the United States.
S. Staffa
Dickinson
Remarks About Job Losses Unacceptable
As a worker in the Texas oil and gas industry, I took exception to remarks by Southern Methodist University Professor Armendariz about the economic impact of new air regulations in Oct. 14 news reports that Texas heavy industries are worried about an EPA crackdown.
Armendariz said it is no “big deal” for our employers to spend millions complying with new rules. In fact, it is a big deal.
Those millions are diverted from payroll, workers’ benefits and pensions.
It’s trendy these days to embrace the attitude that big companies have deep pockets and that nothing the federal government throws at them can hurt them financially. This is not so.
It’s naïve to think that “piling on” isn’t going to eventually threaten my job and increase consumer prices.
While efforts to continue to improve Texas’ air quality are very important and worthwhile, there’s no place in the discussion for flippant remarks when it comes to jeopardizing jobs in the state.
It’s quite a luxury for Armendariz to nonchalantly perch in academia while Texas workers like me face the very real possibility of losing our jobs.
Chip Patton
Fort Worth
Retreat ‘Gift’ Should Have Been Declined
By golly, there wasn’t a cent of Galveston Independent School District property tax money spent on the $172,000 Ball High School staff 2009 “team building retreat” at Moody Gardens.
No, it was free — a gift from the federal government to the school staff. The money had to be spent this fiscal year so, if Ball High didn’t spend it to uplift its staff, someone else would have wasted it on some other boondoggle.
That’s how things work in the federal grants business. The money has been disbursed, and you must spend it or lose it.
Who in his right mind could refuse the hard-working and low-paid Ball High staff a free weekend party at Moody Gardens at the expense of the federal treasury?
The GISD trustees couldn’t refuse. Apparently, they approved spending all that money, regardless its source.
Election candidate BJ Ford says he would have voted against it, and so would I.
Carole Greaney-Wurst lauded this “staff training” soiree as an opportunity for people who have worked in the same building for years to meet face-to-face for the first time and to bond in team spirit and camaraderie.
Let’s hope that all these good vibes have lasted long enough that these newfound amigos at least wave goodnight to one another as they pass out the door to get in their cars and head home across the causeway.
Frank Bowser
Galveston
Lewis Wrong On GHA Planning Options
The abject arrogance of the Galveston Housing Authority commissioners was thrown at the assemblage at the public hearing on the plans for public housing.
One of the first ideas thrown out by Commissioner Ray Lewis was that “no action was not an option.”
Of course it’s an option and the commissioners must have known that point would be argued.
Not to have planned for this activity was gross ignorance, blatant stupidity or arrogance.
Unfortunate it may be, but folks requiring assistance from the state don’t have the right to dictate how that assistance is to be doled. To again warehouse humans, regardless of the prettiness of the accommodations on a hurricane-prone, good-job-scarce, population- and commerce-shrinking community without clear and certain knowledge that it is the only option is wrong.
If the authority had lived up to its civic responsibilities, it would have answered the question, “What if we do nothing?”
How can the needs of these deserving people be met other than through housing on the island?
Are there viable alternatives in mainland communities, especially those that are showing growth in population and commerce?
And many more questions whose answers might well have assuaged the anger of many in the audience, including me.
When we moved here, my family knew the risks — we planned, saved and prepared. To now be faced with the prospect of having to pay through the tax structure for people who didn’t do as we did is not pleasant, especially if there may be alternative processes that aren’t investigated.
Dan Cote
Galveston
America Must Get The Dollar Back On Track
I’m sure everyone has taken notice of the rising price of gasoline again.
Market forces aren’t for the most part influencing this, or disruptions in supply, or increased demand, or speculation.
The largest factor is the value of our dollar. It has decreased 20 percent in the past six months.
Domestically, this devaluation doesn’t jump out at us like it does when paying for imports such as oil or other commodities on the international markets.
This loss of buying power is caused by our record deficits and the federal treasury’s policy of printing money and maintaining a near 0 percent interest rate on borrowing.
No one seems to be talking much about our fiscal policy, but we are paying for it every time we fill up.
If we don’t start to get a grip on this, many countries are suggesting the dollar should be discarded as the world currency.
This would be a disaster for our economy and the country. We need to get our fiscal house in order now.
Russ Chase
Texas City
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