ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SECRETARY of Energy Hazel O'Leary wrote a letter to assure President Clinton that significant measures had been taken to prevent a recurrence of the July 2 and 3 outages on the West Coast. The president received the letter on Aug. 2. On Aug. 10, the power went out again without warning. Clearly, there are some severe power problems on the transmission system on the West Coast.
Perhaps this should be a wake-up call for us who have taken our electric service for granted to consider getting involved and keeping it reliable. To this point, the American Electric Power service areas in Virginia and West Virginia have been relatively free of outages, except for storm damage. We haven't experienced an overload of our transmission circuits. However, as seen by the Western power outages, this can happen.
AEP has anticipated such outages and has proposed a solution: the Wyoming-Cloverdale 765-kilovolt transmission project. Many hesitate to speak out for they assume the regulatory agencies will take care of the problem. In fact, no completely functioning mechanism is in place to get this project
There are few disincentives to economic development and environmental protection greater than blackouts. We need sufficient power for economic growth and development throughout our service area.
CHARLES S. NOELL
CLOVERDALE
Morally demented
IN RESPONSE to Faye O'Dell Nova's Sept. 18 letter to the editor, ``Gay couples' family values can inspire'':
I don't believe she understands what values mean. God only allows man and woman to enter into holy matrimony, not man and man or woman and woman. How sick can the human race become? Where are Nova's values, ethics and morals? Maybe she doesn't have any.
Can two men or two women produce a child? What homosexuals call love is depraved, demented and a sin against God and nature. I hope she never influences any young children because she is demented in her morality.
BOB SCOTT
SALEM
The lady and the tiger
YOU WERE kind enough to publish a letter to the editor from my husband, W.A. Corbitt Jr., on Sept. 8 ("Thanks are due Goodlatte, Warner") outlining the assistance these public servants had given in dealing with a bad federal regulation. You later published a reply from Sandi Walker (Sept. 12, "Not all can get help from Congress") which called my husband a "blissfully unaware fat-cat Republican" as she vented her apparent frustration at "big government.''
Several years ago I heard Sen. Robb state that if we who elect Congress do not make them aware of our opinions by writing or calling, the only opinions they will hear will be from paid lobbyists. For years, my husband has written members of Congress expressing his concerns and opinions about pending and existing legislation, and also to various publications, including this newspaper. His file of letters to and replies from them is more than 2 inches thick. My husband isn't "blissfully unaware.''
Walker has apparently never met my husband. Tantalizing tiger would more appropriately describe him than fat cat. As for his being a Republican, he has helped Democrats get elected in the past when they were capable, honest and men of integrity. My husband is a loyal American, husband, father and grandfather who became disgusted with the "big government" (per Walker) that four decades of a Democratic Congress produced.
When I asked him to comment on being called a fat-cat Republican by Walker, he summed it up in two words: Burp! Meow!
RITA B. CORBITT
ROANOKE
Many retirees do pay more
FRANKLIN Ridenour's Sept. 15 letter ("Give Clinton credit where credit is due") is very critical of K. Michael Croushorn's Sept. 7 letter (``Clinton's performance hardly inspires confidence''), which stated that "Clinton raised taxes on retirees." Ridenour says that's "untrue," with only a bit of generalized equivocation afterward.
I guess the implication is that retiree couples, with a combined annual income of at least $44,000, don't qualify as "retirees." There are a lot of people in that category, and they aren't living off the fat of the land.
Let's get specific on that question with numbers instead of arm-waving. On President Clinton's watch, while the Democrats still held a majority in both houses, those retirees had their taxable Social Security income raised from 50 percent to 85 percent. An example: Suppose a couple received a moderate $10,000 annual joint Social Security income. The additional income taxed is $3,500. At 28 percent, the additional tax is $980. Doesn't this look very much like a substantial tax increase on a lot of moderate-income retirees?
WILLIAM A. BLACKWELL
BLACKSBURG
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB