Georgia has a chance to lure factories back
Apple’s recent agreement with the Chinese government (which will result in a shorter work week for Apple’s Chinese workers, along with other improved benefits) is a huge opportunity for U.S. and Georgia economic developers (“Apple pledge likely to boost China factory wages,” ajc.com, March 30). Very soon, other U.S. manufacturers with facilities in China will have to follow suit, resulting in higher operating costs.
Georgia should have a focused strategy to attract U.S. manufacturers back to this state, as the differential in operating costs which has historically favored China is gradually eroding. Manufacturing is the secret to good-paying, long-term employment for many people — and we as a state need a tough strategic approach.
Ian Shaw, Cumming
Devious legislators deserve to be defeated
In the last hours of the legislative session, Rep. Joe Wilkinson pushed an amendment that reduces government transparency into a hunting and fishing bill (“House blocks ethics switch,” News, March 31). Wilkinson claimed that the measure would have protected innocent lawmakers from potentially false accusations of wrongdoing.
His claim reeks. Why wasn’t the measure debated in the normal course of the legislative session? House Speaker David Ralston’s oblivious “. . . I’m not always aware of everything that’s in them” also stinks.
Of all of the ethics reforms that the Legislature could have addressed, that amendment was not one that anyone wanted — except for Wilkinson and his peers.
Now is a good time to start your campaign to unseat these arrogant politicians.
Don McAdam, Sandy Springs
Expanding options is not anti-automobile
Someone should please advise a recent letter writer (“Give folks a forum to debate tax proposal,” Readers write, Opinion, April 2) that no one wants to take anyone’s car or not fix the roads.
Roads, like the other facets of transport, are important. What she apparently doesn’t realize is that we need a balanced, multi-mode transportation system which benefits all.
You can’t oppose T-SPLOST and also complain about potholes and crumbling transportation facilities of all types — including roads.
D. M. Smith, Marietta
Conservatives’ talk of freedom rings hollow
Conservatives argue that a law requiring a citizen to purchase health insurance is an unconstitutional infringement on individual freedom. How, then, is a law that requires a woman to endure and pay for a completely unnecessary medical procedure prior to obtaining a legal abortion not a more egregious, unconstitutional infringement on individual freedom?
Dan Mohan, Marietta
