Published: October 21, 2007 04:54 pm            

10/21/2007 Letters to the Editor

Vote Edwards out of office

Dear Editor:



The dollar is falling against most major currencies, hitting new lows almost weekly. War and welfare are by far the largest hands in your pocket, costing about $600 billion and $700 billion per year, respectively. Throw in a few billion in infrastructure bills, and the cost of Social Security and a host of other “departments of this and that,” and you come up with a national debt of roughly $9 trillion.

Who is going to pay for this mess? Well, you’ll pay a bit, and then your children will pay a little more and their children will pay a lot more. One of the taxes you will pay it through is called inflation. This insidious little tax is caused by an increase in the money supply. Remember last week when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake bailed out the financial institutions and banks who give politicians millions each year in contributions by injecting a few hundred billion new dollars in the money supply?

With each and every dollar pumped into the economy by the government, the preceding dollars lose a bit of their purchasing power. Meanwhile the government keeps assuring us there is no inflation. To match an ounce of gold’s $850 purchasing power back in January 1980, it would require $2,271.59 today. The dollar lost 30 percent of its purchasing power between 2001 and 2007.

Meanwhile our Congress, instead of trying to straighten out the mess they have made of our country and get the bridges and highways fixed as a starter, they insult Turkey over a bunch of Muslims killing other Muslims back in 1916, thereby making it harder on our military in Iraq which depends on bases in Turkey for supplies, etc.

Why? Because congressional liberals don’t care about anything other than getting reelected and trying to make President Bush look bad. Recent polls put Congress one level above pedophiles in the American people eyes. And rightly so, as they have all become millionaires at our expense and receive huge automatic pay increases each year while they diddle with the Consumer Price Index, which governs the raises retirees and people on Social Security get in their monthly pensions. They take taxes, energy, food, automobiles and housing out of the CPI on the theory that taxes are essential, energy and food are just too volatile, and you get a better quality new house or new car so there is not really any inflation involved.

You really need to call your representative, Chet Edwards, at 817-645-4743 or 817-558-2006 and demand him to vote against the resolution on Turkey and start trying to help the American people instead of voting with Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Schumer, Clinton, Waxman, Kennedy, Franks and the rest of the socialists in their attempts to harass President Bush, or we are going to vote him out of office.

I went to a meeting the other night and listened to Chet pat himself on the back about all the things he did for farmers and veterans. Those bills would have passed whether he had voted on them or not. Look up his voting record on the Internet. He votes in lockstep with the Democratic party over 94 percent of the time and will not vote at all if it is something harmful to his district rather than vote against the party line.

In Texas, one of the small farmers’ sources of income is leasing to quail, dove and deer hunters, yet Edwards has voted every time with the above “gun grabbers” in their attempts to stop private ownership of firearms guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Folks, it is not a guarantee that we could get a better one if we vote him out, but at least we might.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne



Cornyn should be honest with constituents

Dear Editor:



Editor’s note: This is an open letter to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in response to an e-mail concerning his support of increased funding for the SCHIP program, which was vetoed by President Bush.



Dear Senator Cornyn,



In reading your e-mail to me concerning your “support” of the SCHIP program, I felt I had to respond. I am sick and tired of members of Congress voting in lockstep with a president who does not have the good of the common man in his heart. I am sick and tired of hearing Republicans say that they represent the common man, the middle and lower classes when, in fact, they are supporting those with privilege and power.

A family of four making the $84,000 in gross income that you stated will actually come home with a total of less than $60,000. If that family of four was to then purchase a family health plan, that $60,000 would be down somewhere around $50,000. If one of those family members had a catastrophic illness and needed perpetual, professional care, that would break such a family. Further, you are being highly disingenuous by stating to your electorate that there would be a rise in taxes.

What you did not say was that there would be a rise in taxes on the use of tobacco products and that the tobacco industry has been paying big bucks to keep Republicans like you in the halls of Congress.

It’s time for you to start being honest with the people you represent. Doing so for the children of this state would be a good first step.

Sincerely,



Michael B. Mager

Alvarado



Fighting against cancer

Dear Editor:



They sat across from us. We were eating lunch and did not acknowledge their presence. We were eating. The results of chemotherapy were not obvious to the casual observer. As I looked over, I saw two ladies, one with a head covering. Other than that, she looked in good physical condition. But the covering, which was disguising hair loss, was meaningful to a current or former person who has undergone chemotherapy.

After lunch I told my husband, “We have to stop and talk to those ladies for a minute.” At first, they just looked and answered the greeting politely. But then I told of my experience with cancer and chemotherapy. It was as if we had exchanged the secret handshake. There was immediately a connection. The religious beliefs, race, lifestyle, economic factors and background would not make any difference. We have gone through and continue to go through a fight with the deadly disease, cancer.

The initial prognosis with the associated fears, anger and feeling of hopelessness were only a memory. The fight for our very lives is not something that one reads about in a newspaper or magazine. That is part of our life. The anticipation about the MRI, CAT scan and blood test were always present.

The effort to control part of our lives is real and vital. The loss of hair is just one of many outward appearances. It is almost like the medal that a soldier is granted for bravery. The medal does not in any way reveal the actual bravery and the horror and the effort that the soldier had to perform and overcome.

The hair loss is not cancer. It is an effect of chemotherapy. But what is real is the community of cancer patients. It is a close-knit club. A person has to be there and go through it to understand it. Husbands and wives and other support people are important. However, they offer one kind of support, while a fellow cancer patient offers another.

Fellow cancer patients offer hope. They are survivors. Survivors broadcast the message that they are winning, that we are winning. And only fellow survivors, with the help of God, can pass this message to other survivors.

It was a bout a year later that I was getting treatment at the center in Huguley Memorial Medical Center. The friend that had been sitting with the other survivor came to us. She mentioned that her friend was in the radiation center. The cancer had returned. We went down one floor and said hello and offered to pray for her. It was the reunion of a long lost friend.

Yes, I cannot beat this terrible disease alone, but we sure can fight it together.



Betty J. Mann

Cleburne



Cleburne will always be home

Dear Editor:



I grew up in Cleburne and attended Cleburne High, where I graduated in 1941. I went in the service a few days after Pearl Harbor, came home in late 1945 and then got three degrees — BS at North Texas; MA at TCU and a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Texas at Austin in 1952.

I taught for nearly four decades at universities of Florida, Illinois and Arizona State, in addition to helping build graduate institutions in Taiwan and Ghana and teaching U.S. military in Europe and the Middle East. Although I have had chances to see much of the world, no place is more interesting than coming home to Cleburne to see my brother and his wife and to visit with those too few remaining friends from the old days.

I spent five days last week in Cleburne and was overwhelmed with the beauty of the west side and depressed to see my old home area on the north side — now close to being a slum. Little did I realize when I lived on Wilhite how narrow the street was nor did I fully realize how modest — now mostly run down today — the homes were. I do recall with pleasure lying in my bed at night listening to the gospel being sung at the tent just across the tracks by the black residents of Cleburne.

Often I would slip out and go sit in the tent to hear the songs up close. It was with interest that I heard the preacher continue until he finally got the congregation to contribute the amount he specified — usually no more than $10, and often less. These were, after all, the days of the Depression. The days when one could buy six hamburgers for 25 cents and when I could, and usually did, eat a bowl of chili for 10 cents, washed down with a nickel drink.

These were also the days when a doctor sat in a local drug store writing prescriptions for booze in case one had not already called up Bill and had him deliver a bottle to the house in his taxi. Cleburne was a fascinating, warm-hearted and some ways — not unlike today — religious city, which in some ways engaged in hypocrisy where one can become an instant “member” of a bar, cheating itself out of the revenue that would otherwise go to the government for public needs.

I was glad to be back and read the Times-Review. There is no place like home.



Bruce B. Mason



Fire protection still available

Dear Editor:



As someone who tries to stay up on the news affecting our lives, I subscribe to several local newspapers in Johnson County. While following the recent stories concerning the proposed annexation of several parcels of land by the city of Burleson, I found that a Cleburne newspaper reported the following about statements made by Mayor Ken Shetter: “Shetter said residents in rural areas pay a fee to the city for use of fire protection. He then said that if the annexation does not happen by January of next year that service would no longer be available to residents outside the city limits.”

Many of the residents who live outside of Burleson city limits may remember me as the person who, earlier this year, worked very hard to lead the successful campaign for approximately 2,100 families to rejoin the Johnson County Emergency Services District after the city of Burleson decided to no longer provide fire service to them. Despite the fact that we won the referendum to rejoin the ESD, I learned that because of the legalese used on the ballots, many affected residents believed that their “yes” votes were cast to rejoin the Burleson Fire District, when in actuality the vote was to rejoin the ESD.

I wanted to take a moment to respond to the quoted newspaper article and explain that readers may misunderstand the above quote in a Cleburne newspaper. Let me clarify. If Burleson does not annex the targeted rural areas, their fire service with the city of Burleson will, in fact, terminate at the end of this year. Those residents will still have fire protection, but it will be through other fire departments, paid or volunteer, through the Johnson County Emergency Services District.

I hope that this clears up any misunderstanding that readers may have had.



Jerry Stringer

Burleson



Thanks from Marshall Young family

Dear Editor:



We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the Ex-Students Association of Cleburne High School for selecting our dearly loved father and husband, Marshall Young, for induction into the Wall of Fame 2007.

The homecoming event was so graciously carried out beginning with the well-attended parade around CHS, followed by Friday morning’s reception hosted by the student council and beautifully served and catered by the culinary class so appropriately dressed in their chef’s coats and hats. Both students and staff extended hospitality that made us feel like royalty.

Friday afternoon the cheerleaders hosted all honorees at Caddo Street Grill. The young people very unselfishly gave of themselves to make us feel comfortable and welcome. How proud we are to be made aware of the caliber of students at CHS whose character soars above the teen culture of today. What a pleasure it was to connect with our young people.

The culmination of homecoming was the presentation at Yellow Jacket Stadium of a lovely plaque in honor of Marshall. His family stood in for him as they recited his accomplishments reverently with respect and dignity. We were so honored that he is remembered and still loved by those who knew him and graciously introduced to those who never met him.

Thank you, Mark and Diane Banton, and each one who had a part in making homecoming such a special time for us.

Gratefully yours,



Brad Young

Cindy Young Storey

Carolyn Young Kasper

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.