SOCIETY
We need more people like this honest cab driver
My wife and I returned recently from Brussels. Arriving in Atlanta 12 hours late, our airport was eerily quiet. Only three cabs were in the queue.
At home, I discovered I had left my briefcase in the cab. I had no information about the cab (or its driver). I received a call later that day from a gentleman saying he was my cab driver; that he had found my briefcase in his cab, and would be at my house to return my luggage.
A few hours later, a cab arrived, and J. Nnabugwu stepped out with my bag. He apologized for having to open my bag to get my name and number and asked me to ensure my belongings were there. I declined, and gave him a substantial tip.
This driver had chosen between taking cash that was in my bag, or doing the right thing. My guess is that he almost always does the right thing. The world needs more like him.
George Hawkins, Atlanta
POLITICS
Tax cut deal will mean misery for all but rich
I am deeply disappointed to see the “compromise” that President Obama has struck with the GOP about taxes. During his campaign, Obama stated his commitment to helping middle-class working families — those who have been hit hardest by the economic downturn.
How can he justify agreeing to a deal that will so obviously hurt the middle class? It has been proven that tax cuts for the wealthy do not create jobs, and job creation is key to improving our economy.
President Obama, please stand up for the middle class! The Republicans are too mean to do this. The Democrats are too scared to do it. The economic impact of this tax cut will bring misery to us all.
Adzi Vokhiwa, Acworth
ECONOMY
Companies don’t hire according to taxes
Why are people buying the notion that taxes affect whether a business hires? A business hires on the amount of its customers and workload that it generates. If an owner can’t afford to fully staff the business because of taxes, that owner has much greater problems than taxes.
Jeff Groenen, Smyrna
WIKILEAKS
Citizens better off with unsanitized information
In Bob Furnad’s criticism of the publication of the WikiLeaks documents (“WikiLeaks not like Pentagon Papers,” Opinion, Dec. 10), he compares the decision unfavorably to the Pentagon Papers (implying that no similar value flows from WikiLeaks). He may be right. We don’t know yet. But we are better off with more information — not less.
Perhaps the most disturbing part was his description of how CNN labored over a video from Somalia because of concerns over its impact on U.S. foreign policy. CNN, in effect, sanitized a horrible episode in the name of restraint, taste and politics (all highly subjective). Also, offering to let the White House and Pentagon have a say in how the story would be told was wrong. Then, as now, the best course is to just do the news.
CNN’s sensitivity to governmental concerns could lend support to those who suspect journalists of corporate and political bias. I doubt that Furnad meant to do that.
Al Dale, Atlanta