POLITICS
Don’t hate the tea party for facing fiscal facts
Add E.J. Dionne Jr. to those who just don’t “get it” when it comes to discussing the tea party (“The tea party is winning the budget debate,” Opinion, Feb. 21). What he doesn’t seem to “get” is that the United States is broke. The tea party is telling us that if we don’t tackle the deficit (and, by extension, the national debt), we will become like a Third World nation, and soon.
We’re in a crisis. And when you’re in a crisis, you respond with what otherwise might seem like draconian measures. To get out of the fiscal hole we’ve dug for ourselves, we must not only cut the “frills” from the government, but also postpone a lot of President Barack Obama’s so-called “investments” — worthwhile though some of them might be — until we can afford them without borrowing from China, or cranking up the printing press. The tea party is on the right track. And I’m convinced they are speaking for a majority of Americans.
Richard Dowis, Waleska
SUNDAY SALES
Layers of hypocrisy appalling, unacceptable
I find this hypocrisy involving Sunday alcohol sales appalling on many levels.
First are the “closed door” politicians who espouse limited government (yet use it to thwart the will of the majority of Georgians); second, that one man — Jerry Luquire — could have that much influence over our elected servants; and third, the prevention of millions of dollars in revenue that could create jobs.
This is patently egregious and absurd. Another year of this farce is unacceptable — and needs to be correctly addressed. Jim Hope, Norcross
TRANSPORTATION
Can’t afford to subsidize high-speed rail
Can any advocates of high-speed rail cite any successful and cost-effective projects? Amtrak is a money loser every year. We don’t have the money to subsidize these self-serving boondoggles. The initial costs and the ongoing losses, necessitating subsidies, make these projects perpetual losers.
Brandt Ross, Atlanta
HOPE
The time is now to start buying lottery tickets
I wonder how many Georgia families with children attending college on the HOPE scholarship buy lottery tickets. If they are like us, the answer is “never.” When I pay for my groceries at the market, waiting again at customer service to purchase lottery tickets has never crossed my mind (until now).
As a middle-class family and owners of a small business, we must save for our own retirement, pay for medical premiums, and figure out how to provide college educations for our three children (without incurring a mountain of debt).
If the Georgia Lottery could come up with an easy way for HOPE recipients to commit to a gold, silver, or platinum level of pre-purchased tickets, you could count us in for $1,000. Why? Middle-class families must remain eligible for HOPE to continue doing their part to stimulate our state economy. So, start buying those lottery tickets. They’re a win-win proposition.
Karen Taber, Atlanta
