It’s not other people’s money — it’s our own
The price of a college education has nearly doubled at Georgia Tech since my daughter started there. The fees have skyrocketed along with the tuition. The increase at Georgia State University was even worse. When HOPE was covering the tuition and fees, I (as a parent) was not inclined to protest the annual increases since it was not coming out of my pocket.
I’m sure many other parents ignored this as well — since it was not “our money,” but HOPE’s. Georgia’s lottery has not generated a commensurate increase in revenue to cover the amounts the schools continue to add.
Managed care has had this effect on health care as well. When we quit having to pay first and then get reimbursed for health care, we quit making sure that we were billed correctly. Sadly, it’s not really other people’s money — it’s ours.
Amy Parker, Decatur
Romney, all others pander to privileged
The current crop of presidential hopefuls have more in common than their disrespect and disdain for each other and for the president. They share wealth as well.
Wealth is not such a bad thing; it depends on how it’s acquired and used. But, money doesn’t equal class and caring. No matter the number of town hall meetings attended, factories visited or polls analyzed, not one of these candidates has been taped visiting an emergency room where most uninsured go for treatment, visiting a church that offers a free meal for those in need, or talking to people looking for work. I’ll grudgingly give Mitt Romney a partial pass because (as a Mormon) he’s been required to go on a mission trip — but he and the rest are panderers to the privileged.
Ronald D. Johnson, Austell
Obama not only one wrongly demonized
In Newt Gingrich’s rush to demonize President Barack Obama, he has also demonized Saul Alinsky, who was awarded the Catholic Church’s Pacem in Terris Award (for achievements in peace and justice). Winners have included Mother Teresa, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Dorothy Day, R. Sargent Shriver, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and many others.
Michael A. Harrington, Dunwoody
GOP’s aim: Take nation ‘back’ from Democrats
I am a white Democrat. To the letter writer who says, “racism is alive and well in America,” I say that it is — but not in every nook and cranny (“Take our country back? From whom, I wonder,” Readers write, Opinion, Jan. 22). I’m pretty sure when the Republicans say they want to “take our country back,” they mean from “us” Democrats. Let’s stop making up issues. (There are enough real ones.)
BRETT CARTER, NORCROSS
