POVERTY
Poor need training, not more giveaways
Paul Krugman (“War on poverty turns 50, taking a surprising turn,” Opinion, Jan. 11) unashamedly supports big government and all it can do for us. He openly states that “progressives … have decided that inequality is a winning political issue. They see war-on-poverty programs like food stamps, Medicaid and the earned-income tax credit as success stories, initiatives that have helped Americans in need and should be expanded. And if these programs enroll a growing number of Americans rather than being targeted on the poor, so what?”
Nowhere in his celebration of 50 years of fighting poverty does Krugman speak of training programs that might give the poor a chance at jobs potential employers need filled. He does proclaim that with the giveaway programs, “lower-income Americans are much healthier and better nourished than they were in the 1960s.” Does President Barack Obama take advice from Nobel Prize-winner Krugman? I don’t think former President Bill Clinton sought — nor would he take — such garbage advice from him. Clinton knew job training would be necessary to help the poor raise themselves out of poverty.
BOB DRUKTANIS, Sharpsburg
PUBLIC POLICY
Smaller government is accountable to citizens
I enjoyed a good chuckle over my morning coffee (“Suggestion for the Georgia General Assembly,” Letters, Jan. 12). An obviously left-leaning gentleman from Atlanta began his letter to the editor with a snide comment about Georgia Republicans’ preference for smaller government, then challenged the Republican-controlled Legislature to consider fewer counties, while questioning why Georgia “needs” 159 county governments, with 159 sheriffs, fire chiefs, tax collectors and so on.
It seems rather obvious that reducing the number of counties in the same geographic area can only result in larger counties and thus larger local governments, in direct opposition to the conservative ideal of smaller, limited governments. Also, while having more counties does mean there are more local officials, every citizen of the state is still going to pay for those officials, no matter the number or size of counties.
The key point here is that smaller, local governments are more accountable and responsible to taxpaying citizens who those governments serve — a concept loathed by those on the political left who believe the bitter-clinging peasants should just shut up and do as they are told by distant officials.
CHRIS PALMER, Morganton
