ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609180004
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
K. MICHAEL Croushorn's Sept. 7 letter to the editor (``Clinton's performance hardly inspires confidence'') is a perfect example of why many persons have a low regard for journalism.
Publishing an opinion is good, but your editorial staff has a responsibility to reject and not publish flagrantly misleading and untrue information - even if it's cloaked as conviction. Your objective should be one of enlightenment, not confusion.
The letter stated that Clinton raised taxes on retirees. Untrue. I've been retired 31 years and drawing Social Security for 16 years, and my taxes weren't raised. Retirees who have a total income approximately triple what a minimum-wage earner receives would have to pay some increased taxes, but those with lesser income wouldn't, and their taxes were not increased.
The comment that Clinton has run from balancing the budget is also untrue. The facts are that he started in office with a deficit of about $300 billion annually. He has reduced it each year, and it's currently about $130 billion annually. That is an aggressive performance.
Phrases like ``tax and spend'' are used to confuse. Taxes have never been the problem. They are the way we pay for requested government services. Reducing the services being funded is the answer. However, we need to watch that we don't lose our humanity in the process. That's the basic FDR philosophy. Redefining our needs or services is an ongoing requirement. We need a government that accepts the challenge to redefine and then fulfills same.
Croushorn's comments were mostly untrue or misleading. That's best displayed by his blaming of Clinton for all the bad things that happened on Clinton's watch, but denying him credit for the good things such as the improved economy.
FRANKLIN M. RIDENOUR
ROANOKE
Boucher is not soft on crime
I AM amused to hear that young Patrick Muldoon thinks 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher is soft on crime. That is the sort of irresponsible charge someone makes when he or she doesn't have anything of substance to say.
Boucher has a long career of fighting for tougher sentences, restitution for victims of crime, more prison cells in Lee County and keeping open the federal courthouse in Big Stone Gap to conduct criminal trials. He has dedicated himself to working for us on fighting crime and on countless other important issues for the people of Southwest Virginia.
ANNA SUE GREENE
NORTON
Derelicts threaten the neighborhood
WE WRITE to you as a last resort. Our family bought a home in Southeast Roanoke. We love our home and neighborhood, but there's one complaint.
Because the Rescue Mission is in the area, we have a lot of homeless drunks and drug addicts. They walk the streets and alleys as if they owned them. They urinate in the alleys and expose themselves. Our children have witnessed this! They throw their empty beer bottles all over the area. The female winos offer sex for money and cigarettes. Our children can't even walk to the store without being harassed because these people sit on the corners waiting for a handout.
Behind our home is an abandoned house that these bums now live in. We have called the owner of the house, but he never does anything. If owners of vacant homes would take an interest in the property they own and the Southeast neighborhood, we might not have this problem.
There are trash and pornographic magazines all around the area due to these bums. The police have come and told them to move on. The police tell us that's all they can do. But what good is that? The police let the bums return.
When is something going to be done?
TIMOTHY and CHRISTINE PROFFITT
ROANOKE
Editor's note: This letter was also signed by 25 others.
Must we import state leaders?
DO YOU want to know what is wrong with Virginia politics? Let's look at a few names: John Warner, Chuck Robb, Bob Goodlatte, George Allen and Jim Olin.
Some are Democrats and some are Republicans. So, what do they all have in common? They are carpetbaggers. Not a Virginian in the bunch. Warner is from Washington, D.C.; Robb is from Arizona; Goodlatte is from Massachusetts; Allen is from California; and Olin is from Illinois.
While Olin served Virginia well (never had any serious opponents) and never aspired to higher office, I can't see one thing a true Virginian couldn't have done better than the rest. All they did was walk on us as stepping stones in their quest for higher office.
Why, Oliver North crawled out from under a rock (not a Virginia rock) and ran for office. How dare him insult our intelligence. I am convinced people would vote for Bugs Bunny if he carried a party label.
The next time someone says that he or she wants to run for office, let's ask ourselves: Whose interest does he or she have in mind? Is he or she a Virginian?
VERSAL R. STEVENS
VINTON
LENGTH: Medium: 97 linesby CNB