Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9501170019
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
They mistakenly believe that just one more social program, just a little more tax money, just a bit more governmental help and our urban centers would prosper.
Government does not create jobs, business does. Business will not prosper unless the accumulation of wealth is rewarded, not penalized.
Crime in the inner city will continue to rise until the people who live there decide to stop it.
Public schools will continue to decline as long as social engineering and self-esteem are considered more important than falling test scores.
We as a society must decide that individual responsibility is the key to prosperity, and not look to government for guaranteed success. There will always be winners and losers.
Apparently, there are too many BMW-drivin', wine-sippin', NPR-listenin' liberals in the Urban Partnership who think they, better than we, know how to spend our money and live our lives.
The Urban Partnership needs more Chevy-ownin', beer-drinkin' ditto-heads.
Men are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Warner, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. (With apologies to William Shakespeare.)
JOHN S. REPASS SALEM
Go for all-purpose welfare reform
TO SIMPLIFY the process of warehousing a large proportion of our population, we should combine Newt Gingrich's orphanages, Gov. Allen's no-parole jails, our insane asylums and our nursing homes.
The children of welfare mothers will be sent to orphanages, a breeding ground for criminals. From there, they will graduate to the jails, and eventually to either the asylums or to nursing homes.
This cradle-to-grave welfare system, though efficient, is very expensive.
It is estimated that it may cost $30,000 to house one person annually. With the current average life span of 70 years, this amounts to $2.1 million for each individual, not counting inflation.
Why go to such expensive, halfway measures? Let's grab the bull by the horn and adopt the Communist Chinese model:
After two children, if again pregnant, welfare mothers should be forcibly aborted and sterilized. (This has been done in the past to mental patients in Virginia.) Three-time offenders should be sent directly to the electric chair rather than allowed to rot in jail, and euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicides should not only be legalized but encouraged.
ROBERT A. HELLER BLACKSBURG
More TV viewing for less money
IN REGARDS to the Dec. 22 column on the Digital Satellite System (``DSS is the best thing since cable'') by television critic Tom Shales of the Washington Post:
He states that the investment into a satellite system is $5,000 and up, and that we use giant dishes. This is so far from the truth!
The standard price of a full-view C-band satellite system for the home is between $1,800 and $2,900 in most parts of the country, and the standard size of a dish is between 5 and 7.5 feet.
With the full-view system, you get more than 150 free video channels, more than 100 free audio channels, and more than 100 subscription and pay-per-view channels.
Our basic cable service on the full-view system is as low as $15.95 per month, compared with $29.95 per month for the Digital Satellite System.
Unlike the Digital Satellite System, rain fade is not a problem with a full-view satellite system.
Regardless of what Tom Shales or others may say, C-band technology is still the best - with more to choose from for less money.
ARCHIE T. HODGES, JR. President Starlink Satellite Systems, Inc. ROANOKE
A sure-fire Rx for future confusion
IN RESPONSE to the Dec. 21 letter to the editor by Claire E. Sanders, ``More confusion concerning Santa'':
I understand her concern. As a black American, I've always wondered why, when the Bible tells me Jesus is a Jew, America usually paints him as a white man. Because I'm an intelligent, free-thinking person, I pray to a Jewish Jesus.
Since Sanders has a problem with her children accepting people of all colors doing all jobs, perhaps she should take her children and herself to places where there are only white Santas. When they get grown, they'll be as confused as their mom.
Glad to help a fellow American.
MARY LEAR ROANOKE
Gov. Allen's tactics are irresponsible
GEORGE ALLEN seems determined to ruin one of the best state governments in the nation.
Three Democratic governors and a Democratic General Assembly had carefully built a model institution.
Former Gov. Chuck Robb put a billion dollars into education without raising taxes. We had the best school system in the South, and one considered good by national standards.
Former Gov. Jerry Baliles put a half-cent on the sales tax, dedicated to highway maintenance. Every Virginian can look around and see this money rebuilding roads and bridges, redressing 12 years of Republican neglect.
Former Gov. Doug Wilder took us skillfully through a national recession without raising taxes or gutting services. At the end of his term, both Financial World and City and State magazines rated Virginia as having the best financial management of any state.
We were one of only five state whose bonds were rated AAA by independent bond-rating agencies. Virginia ranked 45th out of 50 states - meaning only five states were lower - in state income taxes paid per $1,000 of personal income.
Incidentally, the last increase in state income taxes was in 1972, under a Republican governor.
Every human institution requires thorough study and frequent careful adjustment to match changing times. But Virginia does not need the radical slash-and-burn tactics proposed by Allen, with wild cuts in services, an irresponsible tax cut and billions of dollars of borrowing to be paid off by our great-grandchildren.
Let us hope that the General Assembly will have guts enough to moderate Allen's proposed changes to make them sensible and responsible.
AUGUSTUS C. JOHNSON SALEM
Deceased children won't be forgotten
I WRITE this letter in remembrance of MaKena Mussleman, Cody Stinespring and Kelly Stinespring, who lost their lives in a fire on the night of Dec. 21. (Dec. 23 news story, ``Fatal fire hits Franklin family.'')
I work at Virginia Heights Baptist Church, and for awhile the children and their mother were active members of the church. It didn't take long to get to know them. The warmth of these children was contagious.
These were children who rose above their circumstances. They didn't have many material things that other children take for granted.
I taught Cody and Kelly in a choir for a short period. They loved to sing. Their smiles could brighten up the room. They were excited about being at church. I never heard a complaint come from their mouths.
As far as brotherly and sisterly love, they demonstrated this as they cared for their brother, MaKena. Sometimes when he would cry, they would stay with him and hold him until he felt more comfortable. It seemed they put others' needs before their own.
And as MaKena started to grow, I saw the same in him: the excitement over little things, the sharing with others, the bond to his sisters.
These children found joy in that in which we all should find joy: things that cannot be bought - hugs, compliments, positive attention, praising God through music, and friendship.
I recently heard a song, ``Jesus has a rocking chair.'' He has three more children on his lap today.
Thank you, MaKena, Cody and Kelly, for teaching me a lesson about life and love.
DONNA WILLARD SALEM
by CNB