READERS WRITE

Is there something fishy here?

Responses to “Road bill bends in direction of donors,” Page One, March 22.

Count on cash to get things done

Is it really a mystery how well-connected people and groups get favors done by the Georgia Legislature?

A contribution of cash to the right place gets anything done. Politicians from the governor on down are bought and paid for by special interest groups, with Georgia citizens either too unconcerned or too stupid to vote them out of office. Money talks.

JOHN PADGETT

Snellville

If it’s a good deal, tell us the details

The Republican power structure has already made it possible for Mercer Reynolds’ Linger Longer to gain a foothold on the beachfront of Jekyll Island. Why do we need to help them build a road to their Ritz-Carlton on Lake Oconee?

Sadly, I suspect the Greensboro newspaper editor quoted in the story has it right: “If they can pull the Jekyll Island deal, what the hell is a seven-mile road project to them?”

Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) needs to come clean on the names of the people who helped write this bill. If it’s such a good thing, why does anything need to be hidden? And I urge the Senate not to go along with this latest fine example of pay-to-play politics that continues to be at the forefront of how this state operates.

DIANE SHEARER

Tucker

How much more will middle class take?

Regarding Cynthia Tucker’s column “Income ladder a tough climb for U.S. worker” @issue, March 22:

Of course huge bonuses paid to individuals who have recklessly brought down our economy enrage us all. However, there is much room for skepticism that fundamental thinking about our economy has changed. It is difficult to explain why the American public has tolerated the huge growth of income inequality, flat median wages, the gutting of the manufacturing sector in the name of “free trade,” the huge influx of visa workers and a seriously out-of-control private insurance health care system over the last 30 years.

Free-market conservatism, begun under Ronald Reagan and continued under Newt Gingrich, et al., with its championing of laissez-faire capitalism, has devastated many in the middle class. But it is hardly a foregone conclusion that affected middle-class America will support, even compel, progressives in the distasteful, yet necessary, task of restoring our economy to its former robustness and fairness.

SHIRLEY GRATTAN

Grayson

No simple solutions to problems we face

Once again, Jim Wooten has taken a complex problem, like children being born out of wedlock, and simplified it into anti-government, anti-social programs and regrettably anti-European lunacy (“New culture: Cruel joke on fatherless kids,” @issue, March 22). Mr. Wooten, I am a liberal. I come from a family with two working parents and I am a devoted father of two. I believe the disintegration of family and community is one of the great ills of our culture.

But do you really believe that out-of-wedlock births are the result of males in our society thinking it is OK to “father” kids without actually being a father because they “live under a system that says the children of the woman he sleeps with will be taken care of whether or not he contributes?” I don’t think kids with raging hormones stop to think, “no worries, the government will handle it.”

Let me make a progressive suggestion: Education first; readily available birth control next. That won’t solve issues with the disintegration of family and community, but it will stem the tide of unwanted pregnancies and fatherless children. We can then work on the larger, more complex issues if we come together, refrain from labeling each other and stop simplifying complex problems.

BRETT W. EPPLEY

Roswell

To invade Sudan would be indefensible

John Prendergast believes the United States should consider military options and “other coercive measures” to solve the situation in Sudan (“Obama must halt starvation in Darfur,” @issue, March 22). While the situation is horrifying, another military adventure into a country that doesn’t threaten our security is unwarranted. Not to mention that it is the highest form of hypocrisy for his organization, Center for American Progress, to oppose the invasion and nation-building in Iraq (correctly I might add), yet support the possibility of military action into another country that has not attacked us. It’s high time we stop policing the world trying to fix everything to our liking.

KEVIN SCHMIDT

Kennesaw

Change doesn’t always = better education

Reforms, even “new reforms,” do not necessarily equate to improvement. In fact, education has been reformed almost into incoherency (“Obama’s education plan: Improvement requires will to make changes,” @issue, March 22). Athletes and salespeople earn their merit pay based on numbers, not someone’s opinion. What are those “virtually every other” fields where merit pay works so well? Maybe you had in mind the AIG bonuses? Think of it this way: If an excellent teacher is rewarded with merit pay, will she/he work harder? Merit is in the eyes of the beholder, and attempting to evaluate teachers for extra pay would result in a bureaucratic fiasco. Schools for at-risk 3-year-olds could possibly help, but what would help more is having two-parent families concerned about their children’s futures. People who speak so authoritatively about education seldom understand what they think they know.

ROD PARAMOURE

Marietta

Adult version of Snow White, nine dwarfs

Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go . … Well you know the rest of the old story, except now there should be two additional dwarfs —- Greedy and Cheaty! These nasty little thugs stole most of the diamonds from the seven dwarfs, didn’t work hard and ran off to their big, beautiful castles far, far away. I think you can put the rest of the details together, and so will our grandchildren, even if you don’t tell them about the new story with the additional dwarfs. This story was written out of sheer disgust about the financial bonuses and not really intended for children.

FRED G. SCHMELZER

Decatur