DEFICIT
Congress should feel pain of salary cuts first
Let budget cuts begin with congressional members taking a 10 percent cut in their salary (and that of their staffs).
Congressional members are being paid with taxpayer money, so it seems reasonable that they take the first step before they start cutting our benefits. I trust no word of any politician of any party in D.C., as they go for the headlines for the day and count on the public forgetting about the follow-up.
Everyone knows that our government is spending too much of our money. Politicians need to feel the same economic realities as the rest of us. If we did what they did, no bank would lend us money. We would be in really bad shape.
If they want to play games, let them go home and do it. We will find others to take their jobs.
Don Memberg, Atlanta
Son’s allowance woes mirror spending debate
My son gets an allowance of $10 a week. He spends $12 a week. He has proposed a balanced approach to solving this dilemma: I give him $12 a week, and he promises to reduce his spending to $11 a week next year.
Richard A. Clark, Decatur
Chambliss understands give, take in compromise
Although I didn’t vote for him, I’m honored to be represented by Sen. Saxby Chambliss on issues of the deficit, debt ceiling and where we go from here.
Reasonable people know that unless we tackle both spending and incoming revenue, there is no way to avoid becoming the next Greece. Lost in the rhetoric about the government “taking” our money is the fact that it is a privilege to live in the finest country in the world — and taxes are the price we pay for that privilege. The mark of a good compromise is that no one gets everything her or she wants. Perhaps Chambliss can convince others of this fact.
Caroline Knight, Atlanta
ENVIRONMENT
We need to respect life in all its myriad forms
Thank you to Joel Sartore for his important guest editorial on species survival (“Species Act protects us all,” Opinion, July 26). It sickens me to know the fate of so many creatures is respected by so few and protected so weakly.
In reading the pages leading up to the Opinion section, it occurred to me that until a larger majority of humankind condemns the maiming and killing of our own, how can we expect to teach respect for other inhabitants of this planet?
Joy S. Johnson, Tucker
CELEBRITY DEATH
Feeling cheated after loss of Amy Winehouse
I was caught off guard when I found myself crying after hearing Amy Winehouse had died. Why would I cry over someone I had never met?
I felt cheated, the same feeling I had when John Lennon and Kurt Cobain died. I would never be able to enjoy future music from these talents.
I can hear some focusing on her self-destructive ways and that she met a demise of her own creation. Some people, though, are tortured souls. Before condemning her for her lifestyle, we should listen to her music without judgment and allow for a little compassion.
Tom Ashley, Atlanta
