Saturday, February 06, 2010
Keep a sharp eye on future of the arts in Roanoke
Letters to the Editor
Recent letters to the editor
- Letters: A home-school mom pays taxes, too
- Pick of the day: Home-schoolers reject public schools
- Pick of the day: Passing the buck won't stop abuse
- Letters archive
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
Keep a sharp eye on future of
the arts in Roanoke
The Roanoke Times reported that the director of the Taubman Museum of Art cut two positions ("Taubman Museum director makes changes," Feb. 3 news story). The Taubman was also highlighted in the Jan. 10 Washington Post in an article calling attention to the ongoing decline in attendance. And not just at the Taubman.
Much more reporting is needed on the grim horizon for arts institutions in Roanoke as the metro area, both its officials and its citizens, will likely have hard choices to make in the not-so-distant future.
Obama is worsening our country's issues
The excuse that the current president uses for the mess we are in continues to be that this all started during the past nine years. The implication is obvious, but its interpretation is misapplied.
George W. Bush was not a conservative as the liberals (sorry, progressives) like to claim. He was a liberal in every sense of the word. He signed every Democratic-sponsored spending bill, expanded Medicare and refused to put a stop to the Fanny Mae/Freddie Mac debacle sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd and other liberal Democrats.
The Bush tax cuts were the bare minimum and had to be promised to get elected after eight years of Bill Clinton. Democrats demanded to be involved in a resolution authorizing our invasion of Iraq; for them to claim that it was all Bush's war is a joke.
Bush was unpopular because he was a big government liberal, not because he was too conservative.
Obama has taken Bush's poor fiscal policy and multiplied it by 10. Bush was a liberal in old Democratic terms.
Obama is a socialist or worse and has taken the hole that Bush started digging and has replaced the shovel with a back hoe.
Speed limit increase is a thoughtless idea
How wonderful that we may soon be able to drive 70 miles per hour while talking on our cellphones. The General Assembly does not have the intestinal fortitude to address banning the use of cellphones while driving or close the gun show loophole, but is very quick to support this measure.
What was the governor thinking when he introduced this idea -- or was he?
Toyota needs to make the recall safer
I am appalled at the extent of the Toyota recall.
Customers are advised to take the cars in to get repaired. However, taking the vehicle to the dealer involves driving it. Driving the vehicle puts the driver and any passengers at risk should the accelerator stick on the way to the repair shop. So, how exactly does Toyota expect its customers to have the vehicle repaired in a safe manner?
Toyota needs to address these issues, beyond the fact that they are working hard to get the parts to the dealers and have stopped production.
Ruling on donations mutes people's voice
Excuse the much-maligned phrase, but the Supreme Court definitely is the gift that keeps on giving.
In 2004, it gave us George W. Bush for yet another four miserable years, and now it has overturned our constitutional rights by allowing big corporations carte blanche with the amount of money they desire to contribute to their chosen candidate. No limitations.
The effects of this law today will be far reaching for our country and its political system.
That's only the beginning. The ramifications of this ruling will be nightmarish. This edict by the court in no way reflects the First Amendment and takes away the people's freedom of speech.
Where is our country headed?
