ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290008
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
Give individuals a tax break
WE READ daily of the Allen administration's and our legislators' moves for tax breaks, but not for the individual taxpayer. We see our tax bills steadily increase by price increases on automobiles, higher titling and local personal-property taxes, higher real-estate taxes (as shown by the recent reassessment) and higher sales taxes by constant price increases of all goods.
All this, while wages are stagnant, and jobs with adequate pay to support a home and family continue to disappear.
As you frequently point out, the gap between the rich and poor continues. Apparently those in a position to change this trend could care less. With this attitude, we will continue to see drug abuse, unemployment and the growing gap between the rich and poor.
BILLY T. PROFFITT
SALEM
Don't develop the mountaintop
REGARDING your Jan. 17 news article, ``Official: Save Mill Mountain'':
I was struck by Mill Mountain Development Committee member Ralph Smith's comment that he thinks ``the mountain is kind of sitting there waiting for us to come up with that combination [of uses] that won't damage it too much in the eyes of naturalists but make the mountain of more benefit to the city than it has been.''
Carrying this rather curious line of anthropomorphization forward, I suppose we can conclude that Sugar Loaf Mountain patiently rested for several thousand summers and winters, anticipating the day when some sympathetic soul would carve an ear-to-ear scar across its face and then construct a house that would forever spoil its natural beauty. And I guess the Blue Ridge Parkway stood waiting, a melancholy scenic wallflower, dreaming of the time when some far-sighted developer would provide it with the oozy companionship of another sprawling subdivision.
City Councilman Jim Trout speaks far more to the reality of the situation when he describes Mill Mountain as ``an asset in its natural form.''
Let's not look for ways to change a regional treasure, one that will provide beauty and enjoyment for many generations to come if left undisturbed. Let's take the development out of the Mill Mountain Development Committee's mission.
MARY BETH CROWGEY
ROANOKE
Mourning America's lost generation
ON JAN. 22 in Washington, D.C., the huge silent majority of the most discriminated-against group in history (now 36 million) was recognized. Thousands of basically silent marchers (no fanfare other than one small band) remembered the Supreme Court decision of 1973 when abortion became legal.
The yearly pilgrimage to Washington is on behalf of those who never had a voice - a ``lost generation.'' Perhaps one of the aborted would today have found a cure for AIDS.
As a marcher, I wondered: Where is the outrage of doctors who avert their eyes while 36 million preborn babies are legally destroyed by those in their profession, those who commit infanticide of the unborn in violation of their Hippocratic oath? Where is the outrage of lawyers who allowed their Supreme Court to take away the legal right of ``life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'' as stated in our Declaration of Independence?
The Statue of Liberty welcomes the ``wretched refuse'' of other shores. On this shore, where are the graves of the remains of abortion - the tiny legs, arms, bodies of the legally aborted - in the local landfill?
I imagine that Hitler is laughing in hell at the United States, as today he has been replaced by doctors who legally perform 4,400 abortions a day.
Bill Clinton's place in history may well be that he stood staunchly for partial-birth abortion. Did the two college students who murdered their baby for expediency follow their president's lead? Were they 30 minutes too late to have a legal partial-birth abortion? A traffic jam perhaps? Will 30 minutes mean years in prison for them?
Of the thousands of marchers' signs, this one stood out: ``The Supreme Court is NOT!''
WALLY GEIGER
TROUTVILLE
Proud to have an able president
VIEWING THE speeches, music, songs, prayers and all the pomp and ceremony of the inauguration ceremonies of the president, vice president and their families, I felt an overwhelming pride in our country, our government and its people.
That our bodies of government should work together in harmony and for the good of all people was the refrain that was brought forth in several speeches - including one by Newt Gingrich.
There have been factions these past three years in Congress that have worked hard and spent millions of dollars to bring down the Clintons. If they had spent that time, money and energy in doing their best to run the government, wouldn't we have had a whopping good one?
Those same factions, I have no doubt, have now brought forth Paula Jones with her accusations. If she was harassed by then-Gov. Clinton, why didn't she run out screaming? Why did she wait until he became president to accuse him, making her appearances on television?
Marshall R. Tackett's Jan. 20 letter to the editor (``What if Jones were your daughter?'') noted that Jones was someone's daughter. So was Lizzie Borden and a few million other women who committed every kind of crime, including making false accusations.
We should be proud and honored that we have a very able president and vice president.
FRANCES H. JOHNSON
SELMA
LENGTH: Long : 106 linesby CNB