Wake up, America, and fight against socialism



Socialism or Freedom.

One can write all the letters they want to the editor and it just results in “writer frustration.” It seems that our government does not read the letters or ignores them. One seldom gets a response even on the phone.

Our government voted themselves pay raises while we are looking for jobs. They are totally covered with health insurance, while we pay for ours. We now pay more for Medicare, and our Social Security check increases are frozen in space. Social Security is not charity. It is our right since we paid into it all of our working years. Our government has borrowed from it to the extent that it may not always be available.

We’ve borrowed from countries so much that we will never be able to repay them. Wake up, America.

Our government wants mandatory health insurance for everyone and if we don’t comply there is talk of being fined. How would they expect one to pay a fine if they cannot afford health insurance? Feeding their families is their top priority.

The government says that the job situation is slowly improving. The improvement is that young and old people are taking on two minimum wage jobs just to make ends meet. This makes the job picture fictitious.

The government and most of the extreme left-wingers blast the tea party as a bunch of rabble-rousers. The tea party has grown out of the American people’s frustration with our government. Whether one agrees with their agenda or not, they cannot be ignored.

We can only pray that our government will not put our country in further debt for special interests and that they would come up with real plans for jobs and the economy. Also that they would deal with terrorists and terrorism in an aggressive manner and a responsible manner.

So far the government is working for themselves instead of us. The way things stand now, our government wants control of us. This is called socialism. Under socialism the government can seize our property and have complete control of us. We could not make decisions on our own. They would take away freedom as we know it. Wake up, America, and speak up for freedom!



Loretta Carte

Hico



Beckley VA offered excellent care to family



Just recently my father was placed in the Beckley VA for care. For two days his care was unreal. The third and fourth floors were super to our family; the kindness and support will never be forgotten.

He passed on, but we will always remember how the nurses and doctors provided care for my father. A lot of people have negative thoughts about the Beckley VA, never speaking good about the administration, or anything else at the hospital, but I am a believer in how they help our veterans in the time of suffering, how they make it as comfortable as possible, providing care and refreshments and food, also providing any help families need in their time of need.

The third and fourth floor employees need to be commended on their excellent care. My friends and family that came to visit were treated with great respect as my dad was dying.

It’s good to know that we have the Beckley VA to help many other families that will be faced with medical problems with their dads or husbands, and need love and support no one else will give them. I am very honored to have seen the nurses and doctors work with my father like they did, around the clock.



James Hamilton

Mullens



How far will Rahall’s denials extend?



Talk about revisionist history. Rep. Rahall would have us believe he never supported cap and (tax) trade legislation in this paper or others. I guess he would also want you to forget his appearance on the West Virginia television talk show “Decision Makers” or MetroNews radio network’s “Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval” where he was happy to support cap and trade. Next thing you know, Nick Joe will say he never said the EPA was just doing its job.



Richard Cobb

Cyclone

Magistrates need college degrees



In response to the debate over whether magistrates in our state should be required to have a college degree ... of course, we should require them to at least have an undergraduate degree.

After interacting with some of our fine magistrates over the years, I should have realized that they had little or no knowledge of the law or of common sense itself, but I just assumed that they had more education than a high school diploma or a GED. The argument in favor of continuing this absurd practice is that these men and women have life experiences and other attributes that make up for not having a college diploma. This is simply nonsense.

The same argument could be used to say that there is no real need for a degree for surgeons, dentists, lawyers, etc.  But, there are legitimate and important reasons why we require more than the completion of the 12th grade for some occupations. We rely on degrees to verify knowledge in certain fields, and to ensure that our safety, health, or freedoms are not put in risk because of their lack of knowledge.

Would you go to a dentist or a physician who had no degrees in medicine, but assured you that he had plenty of life experience?  No, you probably would not.  Yet, some of the great legislators of this state are asking us to put our individual liberties, freedoms, and rights in the hands of magistrates who are working off of life experience and no formal education beyond high school.

I am not trying to undermine the importance of a high school diploma or degrade those who have chosen not to go to college, but our magistrates should be as qualified as possible.  There are those on the other side of this debate that say that West Virginians as a whole have a very low college graduation rate, and that our magistrates’ requirements should correspond with our overall lack of education as a state.  This too is simply absurd.

I ask my fellow citizens to write your local representatives and demand that we require more out of magistrates.



Todd Kirby

Fairdale