Response to "At 20, HOPE enters era of uncertainty" News, Sept. 8
Many of the students who have gone to college on the HOPE scholarship would not have gone without it. Many of our top high school students whose families could afford tuition would have gone out of state for college had it not been for HOPE. Much of the skilled work force trained with HOPE funds would not be available without HOPE. Now we hear that the scholarship is in trouble, and if proposed changes are implemented, many bright high school seniors would no longer be eligible for full, or any, HOPE benefits.
Keeping the tolls on Ga. 400 past their proposed expiration to help fund HOPE could help mitigate this problem. The projected revenues from Ga. 400 this year would cut into the shortfall and help HOPE survive.
DICK WISE, ATLANTA
IMMIGRATION
‘Pay back taxes’ vow
needs closer scrutiny
“Doing the right thing” (Opinion, Sept. 8) calls for a repeat of the 1986 legalization for illegal aliens while quoting former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who concurs with former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, asserting that before legalization, pending federal legislation somehow requires illegals to pay back taxes. Barbour is a former lobbyist for Mexico.
Despite repeated claims from amnesty advocates, the Senate bill does not contain a blanket requirement that illegals pay back income taxes for the years they have been illegally taking American jobs.
There is a requirement in the bill that “undocumented workers” must settle existing problems they may have with the IRS — if the illegal alien has filed a return and the IRS has already demanded payment of unpaid taxes. Only then would the illegal be required to “pay back taxes” before having his illegal status removed.
The “pay back taxes” talking point needs a careful fact check.
D.A. KING, PRESIDENT, DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY
INFRASTRUCTURE
Water break shows
need for competition
The recent water main break in Atlanta (“Water main break closes Clairmont Road,” ajc.com, Sept. 4) should serve as a wake-up call.
If taxpayers and ratepayers want to avoid unaffordable utility bills and huge liabilities in the future, they must insist now on more competition in the way public officials manage water systems. According to a study released by the National Taxpayers Union, roughly half a trillion dollars in government expenditures could be saved over the next four decades by adopting techniques such as open procurement for pipe materials, and better asset management.
It’s time for community leaders here and across the nation to be more proactive in embracing fiscally responsible approaches to water policy.
PETE SEPP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION
GOVERNANCE
Compromise shouldn’t
put principles at risk
There is media interest lately in the disappearance of compromise in American politics. In the “old days,” there was a willingness to subject political principle to compromise to wind up with at least some of what each player wanted. Often, this was accomplished through backroom dealmaking. Principles were nobly surrendered with a wink and a nod — a process that leaves mourners nostalgic at today’s wake for compromise.
But is principle supposed to be abandoned? If someone sets up residence in a tent in your backyard, are you supposed to negotiate the subdivision of your property with the trespasser? No. Some principles are worth defending at any cost. The preservation of our constitutional republic is one of them. Don’t confuse talking points of party politics with principles. They are often the antithesis of principle — and should be ignored.
DENNIS E. MCGOWAN, SNELLVILLE
