ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300114
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
TWO LETTERS to the editor (July 16, ``Government does it best. Yeah. Right.'' by R. Keith Whitley) and (July 20, ``Public bus service isn't practical'' by Henry Wiesen) criticize the U.S. Postal Service and Valley Metro on the basis of warped statistics. They conclude that because government services usually don't make a profit, they're not worthwhile.
Whitley contends government services that cost less than similar private services are socialist. He commends FedEx and UPS for being profitable, tax-paying companies, and accuses the Postal Service of using taxpayer subsidies to increase the public debt.
The Postal Service is fully supported by revenue generated by the sale of stamps and other postal goods. Not only does it receive no taxpayer funding, it's actually required to donate millions of dollars per year to reduce the public debt. It was chartered by Congress ``to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.'' FedEx and UPS were created to make money; the Postal Service was created to serve the people.
Wiesen states that Roanoke voters pay $5,628 per public bus rider per year. According to his figures, 754,000 citizens will ride the bus in 1996, and taxpayers will provide $1,407,000 to help pay for it. Simple division says that this equals less than $1.87 per rider each year. Like the Postal Service, Valley Metro isn't a for-profit company. Public transportation is a key component of every city. The bus system helps the environment, aids low-income and student workers, and reduces traffic congestion. Public buses aren't designed to make money, but to serve the people.
Citizens who feel their tax dollars are being used unwisely should first consider the alternatives. See who else will carry a letter 3,000 miles for 32 cents or drive across the city for $1.25. We asked for an efficient means to exchange correspondence, and we got it. We asked for low-cost public transportation, and we got it. Some things aren't measured in dollar signs and decimal points, but in quality of life.
|CRAIG FIFER |ROANOKE
Democrats' agenda|
penalizes families|
I GOT A chuckle out of the cartoon on your July 15 Opinion page showing Clinton and the Democrats on a sinking ship and their campaign slogan, ``Families First.'' Their slogan should be ``Families Worst.'' Their agenda is a misguided attempt to copy the Republicans' successful ``Contract With America.''
President Clinton talks about balancing the budget by 2002. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the ``Families First'' agenda would require a tax increase of a half-trillion dollars to pay for its goals and balance the budget by 2002! Democrats would slam American families with a tax increase twice as large as Clinton's 1993 tax increase - the largest in history.
Democrats just don't get it. Virginia families don't want a federal program for every possible problem. We want to be able to earn more and keep more of what we earn so that we can do more with our families, churches and communities.
In November, America will see through the gloss of Democratic promises to the truth: ``Families First'' is just more liberal, big-government spending.
|MICKEY MIXON |ROANOKE
Site for Ashe statue|
is inappropriate|
REGARDING AN Associated Press article in your July 8 newspaper headlined ``Ashe statue still controversial'':
In their zeal to try to embarrass white Southerners by putting Arthur Ashe's statue on Monument Avenue, racist elements in Richmond dishonored him by putting up a statue that looked like it came from a Wheaties box. Its location is as inappropriate as Stonewall Jackson's statue would be at a tennis court.
Ashe didn't want his statue there, nor did his wife. It was only put there to inflate the egos of politicians who wouldn't have a job if there were no controversy between blacks and whites in the South. In the article, Medical College of Virginia graduate student Matthew Craig said that he liked the statue. ``He's a champion,'' he said. ``Don't put him on a street full of losers.''
For 136 years, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis have been the subjects of thousands of books, plays, movies and articles. Lee and Jackson's tactics are still studied by military colleges around the world. I wonder in another 136 years who history will remember most - the ``champion tennis player'' or those ``losers'' who gave their all in defense of their country against a foreign invader.
|THOMAS N. HUTSON |SALEM
PETA is a front|
for leaders' mischief|
THANK GOODNESS someone has the fortitude to speak out against the menace - People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Michael Fumento's July 17 commentary, "PETA's own lack of ethics").
This organization is really a triumvirate: PETA, the Animal Liberation Front, and a third one that I can't recall.
I've waited for a good investigative reporter to get hold of this and tell all those deluded contributors out there that all they're doing is supporting the leaders of the organizations and their mischief.
|EVELYN D. KIRK |ROANOKE
Labor's position|
was dismissed|
AM I the only one angry about what happened to those who work at Rubatex in Bedford? Am I the only one angry that the mayor and City Council-appointed manager sided with a group of international financial speculators against our citizens?
The local media reported corporate propaganda as if it were the whole story and fact, without regard to bias or result.
My elected officials, the media outlets I patronize and members of my community chastised my brother, cousin, uncle and mother for resisting this situation they are now in.
RBX Corp. is a holding company. These corporations buy devalued companies, quickly wring out as much profit as possible, and sell to the next buyer looking for a quick buck until there's nothing left but a shell. They were called robber barons in the old days.
Just about every good aspect of employment for hourly wages is because ordinary people, through labor unions, worked and suffered to secure for themselves and future generations rights and obligations we take for granted - a 40-hour work week, overtime and sick pay, health insurance, retirement income, etc. One by one, these seem to be slipping away.
No corporation I know is chartered with the purpose to do heartless and wretched things. But I'm not aware of many where anyone who balks at what's heartless and wretched won't be replaced if it means greater profits. The only counterbalance to this tendency is workers and communities.
I respect those who voted to hold on to a humane culture, and I sympathize with those who panicked and changed their vote. To those let go and those left behind, I wish the best possible future. And to the rest of us, I wish good luck because soon luck will be the only thing we can count on.
|MICHAEL DUNCAN |BEDFORD
Let's not wait for|
tragedy to pray|
THE TERRIBLE tragedy of TWA Flight 800 is on my mind, but I wish to give my thoughts about prayers.
Our president asked for a moment of silent prayer, and Congress opened with a moment of silent prayer. Why can't our schools open with a moment of silent prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag? I wonder how many of our children know the pledge, and how many know there is a God, except to use his name in blaspheme.
The way many of our children are going, don't you think they need someone or something to believe in and cling to through life's troubles, such as the jet crash?
Which amendment would be broken by a moment of silent prayer for those who wish to pray in their own religion and silence? Nothing else seems to be working, and taking prayer out of our schools was the worst thing that could have been done to our students and our country's future leaders. They don't have to pray, but they can respect the silence for those who know God and wish to pray.
|WANDA E. MARTIN |ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 160 linesby CNB