Sen. Richard Burr was in Bethlehem to award a grant that was created by President Obama's failed stimulus plan. The senator rightly voted against this bill last winter.
So why did the senator show up to award this money? Does he now think the plan has merit? It is this kind of hypocritical behavior that sent the Republican Party down the drain in 2008.
Stimulus money is stolen from the next generation. The debt we are laying at the feet of our children and grandchildren is shameful, and it will decrease the standard of living for future generations.
I know that $2 million is a mere drop in the bucket to a plan that is $787 billion. But we have to take a stand somewhere and stop this spending madness.
People may say that the money will just be spent somewhere else if not here. Well only you can do what is right and hope that your fellow Americans will also do the right thing. Is this building worth your child's future?
Chief Shannon Lowrance and the people of Bethlehem need to tell the feds no thanks and pay for their own new fire department with money that was earned in the community and collected in taxes.
I know that isn't the easy thing to do, but at least it is the honest thing. If you don't, then every day you drive by the new building, you will know it was bought and paid for on the backs of your children and owned by the Chinese.
Jamie Lowe
Taylorsville
Government service agencies are not broke
Larry Elrod's letter (Your Voice, Oct. 27) is just another typical voice in the constant din of voices denouncing government as incompetent. This type of blanket condemnation has been fashionable for 25 years — since Ronald Reagan made his famous and foolish statement that "Government is not the solution to problems; government is the problem."
Like most of the facile denouncements of government, Mr. Elrod's statements are inaccurate and extreme. The Postal Service, Medicare, and Social Security are not "broke." They are performing reasonably well — better than much of the private sector. So are the other government departments and services that Mr. Elrod condemns.
The entities that most recently have been "broke" are the large investment firms, banks, insurance companies and auto companies. And if government had not given aid to these companies, many more businesses and individual citizens would now be broke.
Yet, there are few voices proclaiming the incompetence, greed, and dishonesty of business executives. For some strange reason, criticism of the corporate world is considered off limits by most Americans.
The Free Market is America's sacred cow.
Mr. Elrod is also wrong in saying that government services have been "shoved down our throats." All such services have been approved by a majority of the representatives the American people have elected to Congress, and thus represent the will of the majority of the people. That's how our democracy works, like it or not.
It seems that some people would prefer a conservative dictator who would disregard the will of the majority and put an end to all government services.
Kermit Turner
Hickory
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