Monday, July 28, 2008
Presidents always get training from on the job experiences
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Presidents always get training from on the job experiences
I have been reading what others have to say about Barack Obama's leadership abilities. How do you get experience without the opportunity to gain that experience? No other job can prepare you to be president of the United States, nor is there a book to read for guidance.
Every president has had his own set of problems. I didn't vote for George W. Bush because I didn't like what he stood for and I didn't think he was very intelligent, but he was smart enough to surround himself with intelligent people.
Obama is not going to be sitting in the Oval Office with all the levers and switches that make the world go round at his fingertips. He'll have advisers to provide guidance when needed.
I'm going to vote for a man and his ideals, not an Internet wizard or a fighter pilot ("Obama lacks the experience to lead," July 24 letter). Between John McCain and Obama, who would make the best leader? The man who has had to put his men in harm's way or the man who kept them out of harm's way?
Come along on a Fair Tax fantasy
Imagine we have only known the Fair Tax. For the last 100 years, we have paid a 23 percent tax on all new purchases of goods and services.
Imagine: No income tax. No reporting all activities to the government. No $500 billion a year paid on tax preparation. No corporate taxes. No Social Security, Medicare or death taxes.
There are not 10,000 pages of fine print tax code that no one understands. No underground economy or black market. No $13 trillion offshore tax haven economy. No foreign takeover of U.S. assets. And, finally, no going to jail for tax errors.
Imagine: U.S. citizens don't even file income tax -- ever. We keep 100 percent of what we earn. A $500 raise in pay shows up immediately on our paycheck.
Now imagine that a brilliant politician proposes eliminating this scenario and instituting what we have now. Why, people would demand that this genius go back to his Ivy League womb and reconnoiter.
Speed limits aren't being enforced
Re: "Fiery crash kills 1," July 14 front page:
On July 21, I was traveling north on U.S. 220/Interstate 581 at about 9:30 a.m. I had followed a Wilco tanker from the intersection of Starkey Road and Virginia 419. I assumed as we entered the ramp to 220 that he would be going slow and I prepared to pass him once we were on 220.
Well, he took off so fast I wondered what kind of engine he had. I never got the opportunity to pass him, as soon he was doing between 65 and 70 mph, even on the curve where the accident happened.
Trucks and cars regularly exceed the 55 mph speed limit, and there is little enforcement in the downtown segment of 220/581 for about a mile on either side. Recently, I've noticed a motorcycle cop pulling over cars, but I've never seen a truck pulled over in this section and rarely anywhere in Virginia.
Our highways have become a nightmare to travel, between the cellphone users and speeding cars and trucks. Accidents like the tanker crash will continue to happen unless speed limits are enforced. We can save fuel at the same time.
Give Roanoke rail for trips to D.C.
I support the effort to return rail passenger service to Roanoke.
I am a senior citizen who moved here two years ago from Northern Virginia to be near my daughter and family. I love living here but, unfortunately, I did not realize I would be isolating myself from my family and former friends in Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area.
Because of my age and poor vision as a result of five eye surgeries, my ability to drive is limited. I made one trip to Washington via Greyhound Bus that took more than two hours longer than had I been able to drive.
Another time I returned from Washington by train to Lynchburg, arriving at 11 p.m. -- a very inconvenient time for my family to meet me and return to our homes in Roanoke.
Several of my friends, also seniors, would be very willing to visit me if rail service were available. And certainly I could visit my family in that area more often if Roanoke were accessible by train.
Of course, we now have the excessive price of gas to further isolate our citizenry.
