Governor should fix parole board
Thank you for your article about the Georgia parole board (“Felons’ gun rights shrouded in secrecy by parole board,” News, Aug. 26). I was flabbergasted to learn that the five board members are appointed by the governor and then operate in complete secrecy and are responsible to no one. They restore gun rights to parolees convicted of murder, rape and child abuse — no questions asked, no questions answered. These people are a clear threat to Georgia citizens, and the laws need to be changed.
GISELA JONES, DUNWOODY
Don’t dictate wages to private business
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez informs us in “Higher wage makes sense” (Opinion, Aug. 27) that in a recent poll, 61 percent of small businesses want to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. That’s great. These companies should go ahead and do so, no doubt making many of their employees happier. But for the other 39 percent of small businesses (and the many unpolled large businesses), why should their freedom to determine the financial value of their employees’ work be curtailed with a compulsory higher wage invoked by the federal government?
If the value of any particular employment position is determined by a business to be today’s minimum wage — or even less — it should have no legislated minimum imposed. The cost of labor ought not be forcefully increased by legislative decree simply because workers and voters want more. (“I need more, therefore you owe me a higher wage.”) It should increase when the value of the job itself merits more as determined by the business offering it. Minimum-wage positions are intended as entry-point jobs, not career paths.
ALAN FOSTER, ACWORTH
Wall Street’s lust for profit insatiable
The cutting of 1,500 Time Warner jobs to satisfy the gluttonous and insatiable appetite of Wall Street wolves (“Turner may cut 1,500 workers,” News, Aug. 27) contributes to the dangerous and rapidly widening wealth gap in our country. It is unconscionable to fathom why $9.98 billion in yearly gross revenue cannot generate sustainable levels of adequate and satisfying profit. What will it take for Wall Street to place value on humanity and the lives of real hard-working people above the need for outrageous profits that leave a path of societal destruction in their wake?
KAREN TABER, ATLANTA
Offended by latest anti-Obama cartoon
As a liberal, I should be delighted by the repetitive inanity of Michael Ramirez’s attacks upon the president, as it makes the cartoonist look ignorant and narrow-minded. He should be a Republican congressman, since his work reflects the current attitude of this august body — namely, to ignore all issues except exposing Obama as the spawn of Satan. Portraying Obama and his policies as the vile executioner of our journalist in Syria, however, went too far (Opinion, Aug. 27). Somewhere out there, there has to be a conservative cartoonist with a brain in his head. Can I do anything to help you find him?
BARBARA RIVES, STONE MOUNTAIN
