Keep justices out of gay marriage
We make a huge mistake in allowing the Supreme Court to decide matters like gay marriage. Irrespective of our personal opinion on the issue, there is only one proper way to achieve our goal, and that is through legislative action. The court has no more business ruling on this than they do setting speed limits on the interstate. The court is made up of nine people no smarter than anyone else and subject to the temptations of power just like everyone else. They need to be reined in.
JOHN COWAN, CARTERSVILLE
Our region needs options for cyclists
I agreed with many of the opinions offered in the AJC guest column, “What’s the commute by bike like?” (Opinion, June 9). I also bike to work on occasion. I leave Marietta at 3:30 a.m. and arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport 1 hour 45 minutes later after a quiet ride down the west side of Atlanta. When I cycle back home, the ride is less friendly and measurably more hazardous. I usually carpool home with a cycling friend who also cycles to the airport with me. It is my hope in the future that I can cycle the return trip as easily as the ride to work.
On I-75 just outside I-285, there are eight lanes north and eight lanes south with an HOV lane being constructed; there is no north-south bike path. An eight-foot wide pedestrian/bike path traveling past the new Braves stadium would be a gem.
DAVID EASTON, MARIETTA
Target predatory for-profit colleges
The for-profit education student debt situation is starting to look a lot like the recent mortgage crisis. Corinthian College, a large chain of institutions, has bilked U.S. taxpayers of as much as $3.6 billion in student aid money (as well as millions more in GI Bill funds) while causing untold misery to many of our most vulnerable citizens. And it doesn’t look like anyone who reaped the huge profits from this fraudulent enterprise will be held accountable or go to jail.
Meanwhile, the for-profit education sector continues to spend millions on lobbyists to oppose regulations, and Congress refuses to even consider closing some of the loopholes — including one that encourages the schools to exploit our veterans — that allow the fraud to continue. The predatory practices of these companies seem to have a lot in common with those of the subprime mortgage sector: getting vulnerable people into debt they can never afford to pay back for a product that has very little market value. And as with the 2008 financial crisis, taxpayers have to fund a huge bailout for a situation created in a regulatory and accountability vacuum.
KATHLEEN BURK, ATLANTA
