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What John McCain doesn't know might hurt average workers

Re: ("Candidates to meet evangelical," Aug. 16 news story):

At the Rick Warren debates, I heard John McCain say, regarding taxes, that he doesn't want to take anything away from the rich.

For a man who admits to having a poor knowledge of economics, that was quite a comment. Perhaps he doesn't know that the disparity between the very rich and the growing number of poor has risen every year since President Bush took office.

Or that corporate executive salaries and benefits are obscenely high, while the average worker's wages and benefits are stagnating.

Perhaps he doesn't know that in 1968, the average American CEO made 20 times the salary of the average worker, but today makes 400 times as much.

Perhaps he doesn't know how much an American CEO makes in comparison to those of other thriving countries -- 16 times more than his British counterpart, 19 times more than a Canadian CEO, 36 times more than a German CEO and 40 times as much as the average Japanese CEO.

So with a McCain presidency, the majority of Americans should expect continued favoritism for the rich. How comforting that must be for them. As a presidential candidate, you'd think McCain would bone up on such staggering realities.

Bowers shouldn't claim 'clean and green' credit

Re: ("Roanoke mayor touts 'clean and green' drive," Aug. 22 Virginia section):

Please, David Bowers. You have been in office for a month and you are laying claim to anything new and green.

I think that over the past year I have read articles in this paper and have seen on TV that Roanoke is working on going green and yet he is trying to take credit for it after only a month in office. And now his opposition to the new art museum has turned into an opinion that makes it sound better than sliced bread.

Do your own thing and don't try to take credit for things you had nothing to do with.

Don't be shouted down in this election

Debates between a rash person and a cautious person -- much like what probably happened between Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell over invading Iraq -- all too often result in the impatient one "shouting down" the prudent one with blather, which ultimately leads to less than desirable results, much like what happened in Iraq.

Currently, debates are ongoing on a societal scale. On one side of the debate are people who support the tax cuts, unfair as they are, believe that the ends justify the means regarding Iraq, and believe that off-shore drilling is a viable solution to our current energy crisis.

If you are aiming for these kinds of speedy results, even though they may not turn out the way that you want, then you should vote for McCain.

However, there are people who believe that tax cuts for the rich, pre-emptive military strikes or drilling for oil wherever deposits can be found are not sound, sustainable solutions to the associated problems.

These people are more likely to engage in a truly meaningful debate on solving problems. If you are willing to work for something better than a quick-fix then you should, first, filter out the "blatherers" and then vote for Obama.

Ignore McCain's ads; listen to Obama's plan

Obama plans to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses giving 95 percent of us as much as $1,000 to compensate for gas and food costs.

I heard him say this with my own ears when he was in Lynchburg. He'll reward companies that create jobs here, especially for new energy options and renewed infrastructure construction, while McCain wants to continue Bush's policy of tax breaks for high-profit corporations.

Obama plans to decrease poverty and help restore the middle class by creating a relevant and equal educational system while raising teachers salaries, making college affordable, increasing the minimum wage and eliminating taxes for seniors making under $50,000.

Can Obama really be considered an elitist when he was raised by a single mom, went through the trials and errors of adolescence, learned from them, then chose to work as a community organizer instead of entering an elite law firm, which as president of the Harvard Law Review, he could easily have done?

Instead, he hit the streets to work with the people, knowing the potential that could be gained with opportunity. Ignore McCains' desperate advertisements and look at Obama's plan according to Obama.

Bible is very clear: Homosexuality is a sin

Re: "Don't misuse Bible to attack gays," Aug. 20 letter:

I agree with Edward Doss: The word homosexual does not appear anywhere in the Bible -- because God describes homosexuality as uncleanness, dishonor, vile passions, error, debased mind and not fitting.

Man gave the name homosexual to describe God's words concerning this nature. Homosexuality is a sin that results in judgment, not only for those who practice, but also for those who approve.

The first mention of homosexuality in the Bible depicts God's judgment upon it as sin. Genesis tells of Sodom and Gomorrah and the severity of the judgment indicates the seriousness of this sin.

The point is that both passive and active kinds of homosexual behavior are sinful, ungodly and disqualify one from entrance into the Kingdom of God. Doss's lifestyle is a lifestyle of sinful behavior. I'm praying for him.

Real ID Act infringes on privacy, state control

The Department of Homeland Security is intent on forcing the states to comply with this national ID card program via our drivers licenses, and it appears that Virginia is already taking steps to accommodate this horror.

There is every reason for the citizens of Virginia to not allow our legislature to comply with this federal mandate. Aside from issues such as your right to privacy, this also cedes state authority to the federal government.

Also consider who will ultimately be paying for this. If you are concerned about the federal government collecting even more personal data on you, usurping our state authority and paying additional taxes to pay for this needless ID card, then write or call your representatives and tell them "no" to the Real ID Act.

Virginia should add itself to the list of states that have already given notice: We will not comply.

Republican debt will cripple the government

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, says he opposes deficit spending. If only he could win over fellow Republicans and the president, who inherited a national debt of $5.7 trillion and, by the time he steps down, will have grown it to $10 trillion.

Goodlatte also opposes raising taxes. An elementary civics lesson for this eight-term congressman: Taxes pay for government services, which includes wars; there's no other way except by borrowing, and already the debt amounts to $47,000 per American adult. Do we want to load more obligations on our children's backs?

No, no, says Goodlatte. He trots out the favorite conservative nostrum, a balanced-budget constitutional amendment, supposedly to compel spending cuts.

It's nothing but political posturing; this non-solution is unenforceable and would have loopholes big enough to force another war through.

If Goodlatte and fellow conservatives really want to cut spending, they could start by ending the misbegotten Iraq war and tax giveaways to the rich. That, of course, they will never do. In fact, conservatives love piling up debt; it cripples government, which is their real goal. If you want responsible fiscal policy, vote Democratic, vote for Sam Rasoul.