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Budget management unfair to community colleges
Your Voice
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Published: October 21, 2008
I feel it necessary to explain to the public the serious financial situation of North Carolina.
Most people probably do not realize that when the state finds itself short of money for whatever reason, the administration not only borrows from the state retirement and highway funds, but also forces the community colleges to revert part of their state allotted operating budget.
At this time, the required reversion is 2 percent, and more money may be required to be reverted in the future.
The reversion of money is not required of the university or public school systems.
It is only required of the community college, those schools that are providing the retraining for people who have lost their jobs as well as other invaluable programs such as nursing.
This places serious financial restraints on hiring adequate faculty to teach the needed classes.
Also, the community college system receives no money from the education lottery and apparently no consideration has been given to cutting the pork from the budget.
It seems pork is much more important than education.
The public should question the state administrators' methods of managing our budget before they vote for them for any state or federal office.
Cathy Herbert
Sherrills Ford
Americans made economic deal with the devil
Reading the six letters in Your Voice on Oct. 8 was a sad, disheartening experience.
Three of the letters writers attempted to place blame for the current economic crisis on the Democrats, the other three on the Republicans.
All were partly right, but none seemed to sense the fundamental cause of our economic meltdown — the culture of materialism that has been growing since World War II and that snowballed during the past 25 years.
Aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns in all the media, but particularly on TV, convinced Americans they should and could have more of everything: More and bigger homes, more and bigger vehicles, more and bigger televisions, every new electronic gadget, newer and more expensive prescription drugs, etc.
In this culture, materialism and greed became virtues and consumerism became equated with patriotism.
Soon after 9/11, our president encouraged people not to be intimidated but to go out and shop as usual.
Like Faust, we Americans made a bargain with the devil, the devil being unbridled, unethical capitalism, the "Free Market." We sold our souls for the promise of unlimited prosperity.
We had our day, our decade or two, but now the devil has come to collect its due. We should not be surprised, we should not cast blame on particular groups or individuals and we should not whine.
Kermit Turner
Hickory
Former chief justices endorse Edmunds
We four former chief justices of the Supreme Court of North Carolina are writing to urge your readers to re-elect Justice Bob Edmunds to the Supreme Court.
As leaders of the court, we have seen the qualities that make an excellent justice. In his eight years on the Supreme Court, Edmunds has demonstrated every one of those qualities. His experience as a state prosecutor, as a federal prosecutor and as a private practitioner has given him invaluable insight into the types of cases that most frequently come before the court.
Edmunds writes clear and sensible opinions that attorneys and judges can easily apply. He has excellent judicial temperament. He has demonstrated a mastery of the difficult work of appellate judging and has proven himself to be a fair and impartial justice.
Judicial elections are nonpartisan. We former chief justices, two Democrats and two Republicans, think North Carolinians deserve to have the most qualified men and women as their judges. In this race, Edmunds is the most qualified candidate.
We are proud to endorse him for re-election.
Former Chief Justices
Rhoda Billings
Jim Exum
Burley Mitchell
Beverly Lake
Warren, Bentley serve with honesty, integrity
May I respond to the letter from Ms. Shelia Shook on Oct. 11 regarding political mailers from state Rep. Ray Warren?
I am a taxpayer in Alexander County. I feel sure that if Ms. Shook wanted to have her picture taken with deputies and/or patrol vehicles, there would be no problem. How does Ms. Shook know from the photos that the deputies were on duty? Why does it matter?
I challenge Ms. Shook, who I do not know, to put her integrity, her record of service to the citizens of Alexander County and her reputation for honesty up against that of Ray Warren.
Could it be that Ms. Shook belongs to a different political affiliation from Ray Warren? Could it be that she is just taking a cheap shot at an honest, upstanding servant of the taxpayers of Alexander County?
I know Ray Warren and Hayden Bentley. These men chose to serve their community as a career. They have demonstrated a high level of honesty, integrity and service to Alexander County citizens regardless of the citizens' political affiliation.
It is easy to throw stones at those who give service and make sacrifices to serve us.
Jim Riley
Taylorsville
Vote, and hope other voters find enlightenment
Am I missing something or is the world this confusing? The news media has decided that Sen. Barack Obama will be our next president. That will make Sen. Joe Biden the next in line, after having been rejected early in primaries by his own party for president at least twice, including this campaign. Yet, Obama says he selected him due to his qualifications to be president.
Biden is quoted as saying Obama is not qualified to be president. With his 30 years in the Senate, he should know.
This event will probably retain Nancy Pelosi, easily the worst House Speaker in recent history, third in line to the presidency.
Given that the president is chief executive running a truly major organization, neither of the two Democratic candidates have any experience, nor does Sen. John McCain.
If a headhunter was looking for a presidential CEO, the Senate would not be the place to check, governorships would be the more logical choice. A logical choice has been found, but the spiteful Democratic party decided dragging her down was worth hurting the nation.
Given I am not a Republican or Democrat, I wonder how honorable Southern Democrats have allowed their party leaders to become clearly socialistic as we in the South have defended our nation's principles in greater proportion than other parts of the country.
The only thing I can do is vote first for America and pray for enlightenment for some voters while they are in the privacy of the voting booth.
Marshall Hiatt
Hickory
Democrats allowed economy to tank
During the first six years of President Bush, consumer confidence was at a 2-1/2 year high. Unemployment was 4.5 percent, gas $2.20 /gallon and the Dow was 14,000.
But in the 2006 elections, people wanted change and voted in a Democratic Congress.
Well, unemployment is 7 percent, gas was $4 a gallon, the Dow 9,000 and foreclosures at record highs.
They say that was due to Bush's deregulations. If you watched 20/20, John Stossel put the blame right where it belonged. It started with President Clinton and the Democrats who wanted low-income families to own homes. They lowered the requirements to buy homes they couldn't afford and gave them sub-prime mortgages. Now who was overseeing this? John McCain called for an investigation, but the Dems voted no.
This bailout is simply corporate welfare. If elected, Barack Obama wants to spend $1 trillion more. He wants to tax the rich and spread the wealth. Can you imagine a Democratic Congress with Obama (the most liberal senator today) as president.
This is what happened when Jimmy Carter became president. Unemployment jumped to 12 percent and interest on home mortgages was at 21 percent.
With less government, the free markets can take over. That's capitalism under McCain; not socialism under Obama. Do you want more government control?
Look at the stock market.
Craig Boyer
Hickory
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