REDISTRICTING
Democrat’s tactics should surprise no one
People should not be shocked that Georgia’s House Minority Leader (Stacey Abrams) threatened fellow Democrats with primary challenges if they vote for the Republican redistricting map.
The Democratic leadership can’t get over that fact that they ruled for years with little opposition. This appears to be a disturbing trend in the Democratic party, which seems to want to rule our country as a dictatorship (instead of a representative democracy). This non-cooperation is no different from the Democratic legislators in Wisconsin fleeing the state to avoid a vote on legislation that they did not approve of.
Voters need to reject this form of obstructionism from the state and federal leadership of the Democratic Party by not rewarding them with votes on election day.
Jerome Jernigan, Atlanta
POLITICS
Lawmakers could wear allegiances on sleeves
Given the depressing spectacle of “our” Congress pretending they care about their constituencies (particularly during the debt ceiling debacle), I want to suggest a more transparent system of government — one in which we will know who these people represent.
Professional golfers can earn much of their income by wearing corporate logos on their hat and clothing. If “our” Congress was required to display their sponsors on their clothing, we would know who to contact to get a message through to them.
Harris Green, Big Canoe
SOCIAL SECURITY
It’s not an entitlement if we paid into it
Since when do I have to view my earned benefits as a handout? I don’t care what Webster’s definition of “entitlement” is, it has negative connotations.
My wife and I contributed to Social Security and Medicare for decades based on false promises that we’d be paid back in our retirement. I’ll readily agree that they’re underfunded — let’s call that unfunded and probably unsustainable (because of greedy legislators). But don’t characterize beneficiaries as moochers, because that’s what people read into the word “entitlement.”
We are not part of the problem. We’re victims.
Tom Navin, Sharpsburg
GOVERNMENT
Leaders must learn from mistakes of history
Years ago, the Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan. After years of bombardment and war, the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan with a severely broken economy. Roughly 10 years ago, the United States entered a war with Afghanistan in retaliation for horrible terrorist attacks. Here we sit: a 235-year-old experiment in democracy, with a flawed (if not broken) economy, expending trillions of dollars in a futile war with Afghanistan.
Most of us have heard the quote from George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Perhaps the people elected to run our country need to read and think about those words, and begin acting in the best interest of the people.
Harris Gottlieb, Dunwoody
