POLITICS

Coach’s honeymoon longer than president’s

We give college football coaches about four or five years to turn things around, but lo and behold — if a president hasn’t turned it around in under two years, we’re ready to crucify him. Why is that?

Phil Davis, Powder Springs

HOSPICE CARE

Learn more about services provided

Every November, hospice and palliative care providers in Georgia reach out to raise awareness about the services hospice and palliative care provide those with serious and life-limiting illness. This observance reminds people that this sort of care helps patients and families focus on living.

Those who have worked in the field have seen how hospice and palliative care can improve the quality of life. Research shows that families report a better quality of life under hospice and palliative care. There’s a growing body of research showing that hospice and palliative care may prolong the lives of some people who receive care.

The hospice team answers questions, offers advice on what to expect, and helps families with the duties of being a caregiver. The team also provides emotional and spiritual support for the entire family.

With the help of Georgia’s hospice and palliative care programs, patients and families can focus on what’s most important: enjoying life together and living as fully as possible.

If you (or a loved one) is facing a serious or life-limiting illness, the time to find out more about hospice and palliative care is now.

Jennifer Hale, Executive Director, Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

HISTORY

Obama could learn from Roosevelt’s PR successes

I am all for re-examining history for new insights, but Thomas Sowell misrepresents the facts (“New book debunks FDR’s economic legacy,” Opinion, Nov. 9). FDR never claimed to be an economics expert. He compared himself to a quarterback who tried a play, and its success or failure dictated the next play he would call.

Like all quarterbacks, some of the plays he called were bad ones — but this does not invalidate the entire game plan.

New Deal programs like the WPA provided paychecks to Americans who would otherwise have been destitute. Reforms like the Wagner Act and the SEC stabilized an unpredictable business climate. But as most modern textbooks generally conclude, none of this addressed the root causes of the 1930s economic crisis. The massive deficit spending during World War II ended the Great Depression.

FDR’s real success (and by analogy, Obama’s failure) was in public relations. Roosevelt made the country feel he was working on their behalf. Obama has not communicated that message.

FDR was elected president four times. Obama has yet to make his case for a second term.

Marcus Patton, Stone Mountain

Featured

Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle, assistant director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, says the the DOE rule change is “a slippery slope” for civil rights. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC