Published: November 24, 2008 07:32 am      

11/23/08 Letters to the Editor

Bonds taking a sabbatcial?



Dear Editor:



Congratulations Bill Conover, I believe your letter is the best example I have ever seen of a Democrat attacking the messenger because they cannot refute the message.

I want to thank the yapping pack of local Democrats for allowing me to win a rather substantial wager that you couldn’t refute the message in my letters, but would attempt to vilify me as the messenger.

If there are more such letters from Democrats — emboldened by the election of Obama — in the Cleburne Times-Review today, the winnings will simply double.

The sixth commandment from the Christian Bible in modern vernacular reads “You shall not murder,” which can hardly be considered “a result of my twisted mind,” Bill.

Murder by definition in most common law countries is “the unlawful killing of another human person with malice aforethought.”

Murder is generally distinguished from other forms of homicide by the elements of malice aforethought and the lack of lawful justification, per Wikipedia’s definition.

Because Democrats have successfully changed American law to allow the lawful killing of inconvenient infants, you will not be found guilty here of a crime nor need fear an earthly judge.

But when you eventually stand before God, you will surely pay for the sins of those whom you so fervently support in their efforts to overrule God’s ordinances so they can worship the golden calf without concern.

Meanwhile, I will continue praying that Obama does indeed turn out to be what you have hoped for and not that which I fear. I am going to take a short sabbatical and observe this momentous event in American history, but the good Lord willing, I will return.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne





Congressman looks to the future

Dear Editor:



It is with humility and gratitude that I look forward to continuing to work for our district in Congress.

Our nation faces a lot of serious challenges here at home and abroad, but there is no challenge we Americans cannot meet when we work together in good faith.

The heart-felt request I have heard over and over again throughout our district, from Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, is for members of Congress to put aside petty partisanship and to work on a bipartisan basis for the good of our country. I have heard that request and intend to honor it.

Although there will always be differences in a democracy, I believe we should begin by looking for common ground and common-sense solutions. When there are honest differences, they should be expressed with respect to others.

I am grateful to all who supported me in this election, and I respect all those who chose to support my opponent. Now that the election is over, it is my responsibility to listen to and work for all the people of our district. I take that responsibility seriously and will work hard every day to earn the trust that has been placed in me.



Congressman Chet Edwards

Waco





Time to help automobile industry



Dear Editor:



How puzzling; we couldn’t throw enough money fast enough at Wall Street, the ones who caused our economic meltdown, but we seem disinclined to help one of the tragic victims, our domestic auto industry.

Twenty-five billion dollars to save our auto industry jobs is a real bargain compared with $700 billion for the financial manipulators.

Outside factors devastated our auto companies. The $4 gasoline prices hurt but became insurmountable when followed by the impact of the economic collapse on potential buyers.

There are many myths based on 20-year-old data being used to discredit our auto industry by many in Congress and the administration.

Contrary to these myths the American companies are very competitive with Asian and European companies in both quality and in labor hours, productivity.

Ford has moved to the top in overall quality according to JD Powers — above Toyota — and GM is not far behind.

Both companies have launched nothing but great products over the last several years.

The new Cadillac CTS is a world class car according to all industry publications, so is the new Chevy Malibu and the Ford Fusion.

Chevy and Ford pickup trucks remain the standard in their class, and the new crossovers by Buick, GMC, Saturn and Ford’s Edge are all highly rated.

The argument that foreign-car plants in the U.S. would offset the demise of Ford and GM on the American economy is false.

The domestic content of American cars is far greater than that of the foreign-made cars. Of 58 models with 75 percent or more domestic content, 50 are American brands. Foreign brands assembled in the U.S. only have 20-25 hours of domestic content, the rest is shipped in; we are easily fooled.

Hourly pay is also highly misrepresented.

The American worker makes less than is generally believed. Auto wages in western Germany are the industry’s highest at $40.80 per hour followed by $35.40 in Japan and $34.80 in the U.S.

Furthermore, the labor cost represents only 8.4 percent of the cost of a U.S. built car. The remainder is design, development, testing, materials, advertising, sales, delivery and warranty.

The $75 an hour wage quoted by many is the greatest myth of all. There are many factors in the $75 an hour, but the killer is health care cost for workers and retirees, which the foreign competitors do not have to pay. Their state covers these costs.

On this issue alone our carmakers have to overcome a $1,100 to $1,300 per car disadvantage. Fair?

Help the Wall Street leeches, and abandon the bedrocks of our American economy ?

How reckless can Congress and the administration get?



Carl V Flores

Grandview





It’s up to us to decide what’s true and what’s false



Dear Editor:



Much intelligent public free speech is not tolerated as just controversial but criticized by those who foster race baiting and who criticize any opposition speech as “politically or socially incorrect.”

Now, it is to the point of ridiculousness when a person on the Texas State Board of Education is heavily criticized for voicing an inquiry as to the legality of a political candidate. I believe that such awareness should be rewarded in like cases. Why have “yes-men drones” been on such important boards?

I, too, have some doubts with regard to the natural birth citizenship status of now President-elect Barack Obama. Others have also questioned his natural born status because of the unaccessible pre-election information about his complete bio.

Admittedly, I was looking for anything discouraging about Obama and wanting to believe it as fact. Even though John McCain did not fit my idea of a candidate fitting the needs of America at this time, his bio and records were all verifiably sound for character and ability.

I neither liked Obama nor trusted him and welcomed any slanderous and possibly true verbalization directed at him. Since he has been elected to be our president, I am praying that my feelings toward him will be proven erroneous.

Without freely available information, it remains up to each of us to determine what is true or false.

I hate to find that something sounding good is a lie or a part truth, particularly if in regard to a noted person’s character.

On the other hand, untrue accusations are even worse. It is difficult to find the truth when records aren’t available and Obama’s records are anything but an open book.

This hiding of important facts makes me suspicious of him, the media and even the opposing party’s lack of research diligence in this candidacy process. It seems as if we were fed bits and pieces of glossed-over material instead of the totality that we deserved.

Why wasn’t the proof of his birthplace and subsequent events in his life published with names, dates and verifiable signatures?

Was the story of his African Muslim relatives claiming his birthing in Africa by his young mother before returning to Hawaii where she registered his birth a complete hoax?

How about the forfeiture of his American citizenship in order to attend Islamic schools in Indonesia after his mother married an Indonesian Muslim?

To ignore without dedicated research and to not disprove these stories, if false, are huge displays of ignorance on the part of the attorney general and others, or would this have been “politically incorrect” as in racism, even though all citizens deserved the same information?

Shouldn’t his full and true history be well researched without any assumptions?

His alleged associations with very unscrupulous characters were disallowed or ignored by the Feds and many voters.

Would “politically incorrectness” not allow such vital investigation?

If McCain had kicked a dog when 6 years old it would have been broadcast to the world!

Are we as the voting public in a coma or just recently programmed?

We may all get to live with, for better or worse, whatever changes Mr.Who? has in mind.

It is my opinion that the aforementioned education board member should be applauded for her concern about the issue and not about “political correctness” on such an important issue.

I feel good knowing that her openness and influence on textbook selection will be asserted.

As you can see, I am still looking for the absolute truth and credibility from all of our elected or appointed officials but will gladly and with some hope admit my poor judgment of character in Obama’s case should he prove to be the genuine thing.

Otherwise, it will be a little late for “politically and correctly” wiping up the ‘spilt milk.’



Monte Swatzell

Cleburne





The liberals got their man



Dear Editor:



Well, there you have it.

The liberals will soon have their man in the White House. What does this mean for Texans?

First of all will be amnesty for Mexicans in this country illegally. It is in the best interest of the Democratic Party to legalize all illegals and get them registered to vote.

By becoming citizens, these people will be eligible for all the free stuff the Democrats will be handing out, including free health care.

Next, the Democrats will attack the mention of God in any public place.

These secular, often atheist, people will have support both in the congress and the White House. Read the news across the nation, this process has already begun.

Although Joe Biden said the new administration would not support gay marriage, supporters of this abominable concept are already foaming at the mouth. You can bet the new administration will not openly oppose gay marriage.

New unreasonable gun control legislation will be forthcoming, probably sometime after national health care, i.e., socialized medicine, has been imposed on the American people. This will face opposition in Congress simply because there are a few Democrats who support your rights under the Second Amendment.

Then it really gets worse.

Under Obama’s “share the wealth” philosophy, i.e., communism, the IRS will begin to pick your pocket a few percentage points at a time. According to Joe Biden, it is your patriotic duty to pay more taxes.

Your neighbor who fell behind in his mortgage payments will have his house payment lowered while you continue to pay the same on your mortgage. They have to reward irresponsibility to keep those votes.

Obama talks about creating jobs by developing alternative sources of energy. What kind of jobs is he talking about? Most new jobs in this country are created by small business, not massive government programs.

What you will see is a massive bureaucracy of overpaid nose-pickers wasting your hard earned money.

You can bet on one thing for sure. Since Texas overwhelmingly voted for Republicans, the new administration and Congress will look for ways to punish Texas and the other “red” states. Because Texas has a vibrant economy and a huge tax base, they will assuredly work to limit federal spending in Texas while increasing taxes wherever they can.

The first thing that comes to mind is a national severance tax on oil and gas production. Barney Frank has suggested a 25 percent cut in military spending. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will be hit hard by these cuts, as well as other military installations at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, Fort Sam Houston and others throughout Texas.

Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried. Conditions in socialist countries in Europe are deplorable. Shortages abound because there is no economic incentive to produce more.

My hope is that the American people will finally get a good look at liberal polices, realize the mistake they have made, go to the polling place in 2010 and 2012 and put an end to liberalism in this country forever. If we don’t we will see a decline in American prosperity, productivity and prestige.

One magazine article I read implied that America should be more like the rest of the world.

Have you taken a look at the rest of the world? Europe has double-digit unemployment. Russia is virtually a third-world country. China still imprisons or executes citizens for criticizing the government.

This is America. Contrary to what Obama has said, this is and always has been the land of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard.

Some people would do better if they stopped whining about what happened to their ancestors over a hundred years ago. The lazy, ignorant, stupid and irresponsible, will still be lazy, ignorant, stupid and irresponsible after Obama takes office.

Nothing he can do will change the economic status of these people. They will just have a little more of your money to spend on drugs and alcohol.



Harry C. Kennemer Jr.

Burleson





Finally speaking out against W.V. Bonds



Dear Editor:



Finally some good people are speaking out about the hateful bigoted writings of W.V. Bonds.

Maybe our country will be healed and united the way it should be.

Anyone can see he gets all his views from somewhere — not his words. He says we use emotions not facts. He uses someone else’s words, not facts. Check most of them on fact check and see what is fact.

That helped a lot of people decide in the campaign who was telling the truth and who wasn’t.

Now we have a president who will work for the people and let everyone’s voice be heard.

Of course a lot of you will never shut up and that is OK too. At least we will be heard.

I think most of Bonds’ views come from hateful people like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly. He sounds just like them.

Please go away now, Mr. Bonds You have lost your credibility.

No one is listening to hate and division. Like Bill Conover said, and very well, we are all Americans.

Please don’t answer this. I will no longer argue with you.

Thank you.



Frances Lee

Grandview





Auto industry should be rescued



Dear Editor:



It’s a sad — even frightening — thing to think of the thousands of people, bread winners, who would be out of work if the government doesn’t step in to rescue the auto industry.

However, as with any business filing Chapter 11, only a complete restructure will bring a company back after such financial loss.

What happened to the auto industry? Back in the 1970s, when we had an “oil scare,” gasoline was scarce, and long lines formed at the pumps as people tried to fill up.

This should have been a wake-up call to the manufacturers. We were in dire need for them to design more efficient automobiles. But nothing changed.

With their failure to act, the government told the auto industry if they didn’t make some changes they would face huge penalties, and still they dragged their feet.

Because of public demand for more economical cars, and not finding them from American manufacturers, people started looking to foreign manufacturers. Guess what happened.

The American cars produced by the “Big 3” began losing market share as the population moved toward the more efficient cars. In turn this sent the American dollars overseas, along with the dollars we were already sending out by purchasing oil from other countries.

When are they going to wake up to the fact that they can’t continue to operate “business as usual”? Changes must be made!

Now those foreign manufacturers have built assembly plants on American soil. And if you look at the very successful new “American” manufacturers such as Toyota, VW, etc., it appears they are not suffering from the same ailments as the Big 3. What’s the difference? Unions. Those unnecessary piranhas that have out-lived their usefulness.

Yes, there was a time they were needed, and they did do a lot of good for the American worker in seeing to it that companies didn’t abuse their employees. Today companies compete for good workers, and nice benefit packages are the norm, even where there is no union.

Have the union employees thought about how much more of their hard-earned wages they could be taking home if they weren’t funding those blood-sucking entities trying to justify their existence so they can make a living for themselves?

Besides, if you ask some of the corporations, they will tell you they could afford to be even more generous with their employees if the unions would stop making unreasonable demands, increasing costs for those companies to do business.

Remember what happened to Safeway? Union demands shut Safeway down in North Texas when nonunion competition could sell its goods for less money.

This is what is happening to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. This, along with the fact they still aren’t producing an appealing and efficient car, is the reason they are suffering. I wonder how many people would be put out of work if the unions were put out of business instead of the auto manufacturers.

If the government bailed them out right now, and they continued operating in the same way, when would they need another bailout? They have been hanging on by a thread for years. This last crisis just pushed them over the edge.

It’s long been noted, “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.”



Barbara Slimp

Cleburne





Thanks from Christmas in Action



Dear Editor:



Christmas in Action wishes to thank all those who supported our chili supper on Nov. 14th. Our fundraiser was a great success, and proceeds raised will assist with April home repair projects.

Many thanks to the Cleburne Elks Lodge, the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce, the Cleburne Fire Fighters Association, Christi’s, Mary Hicks, Brenda Opella, Four Season Cleaners, Ulrich Barns, Lemon Sisters, the auctioneer, Ronnie Allen, Ralph Vaquera, H-E-B, Pulidos, Barrera’s, the United Presbyterian Church, Castle Collections, Sears, Accents and all the businesses and realtors who contributed to the dessert auction. We appreciate the public for helping to eat 100 pounds of chili meat.



Christmas in Action board

Cleburne