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  • Readers Write 6/28

    AFGHANISTAN Must do more to reduce spending on warfare I applaud President Barack Obama’s decision to begin reduction in troop deployments in Afghanistan. However, I fear that the rate may not be sufficient to meet the needs of our struggling economy. Too often, the calls for budget reductions pay inadequate attention to the enormous cost of our ongoing military deployments on foreign soil.

  • Readers Write 6/27

    PUBLIC SAFETY Police officers should pull over texting drivers I am in total agreement with the article “NTSB: Driving with phones must change” (News, June 22). It has reached the point that you have to watch how you are driving, as well as everyone else on the road.

  • Readers Write 6/26

    ETHICS Response to “Deal gets a perk, Delta does, too.” News, June 19

    Delta’s chief executive officer should either be forced to tell the true valuation of the upgrade to Diamond Medallion status given to Gov. Nathan Deal and his wife or offer the public the opportunity to buy it at their estimated value of about $4,000 dollars per person.

  • Readers Write 6/24

    SUPREME COURT Education/police duality can’t be trusted I stand with former district attorney J. Tom Morgan (“New legal rights for children a good step,” Opinion, June 21). As a retired police officer, I have sat more times than I can count on the police side of the table in situations such as those considered by the Supreme Court in the J.

  • Readers Write 6/23

    SOCIAL SECURITY To solve debt crisis, somebody has to lose The report that the AARP would support some cuts in Social Security (albeit for future recipients who are probably not current members) was welcome news. For all the attention our inability to solve the pending debt crisis has received, there has been little mention made of the role of Americans’ deep-seated need to win.

  • Readers Write 6/22

    ENVIRONMENT Recycling industry appreciates support Thanks to the Aluminum Association for pointing out the value of recycling as it relates to jobs, and the longevity of our record as the pioneers of green jobs in the U.S. (“Green jobs that don’t fleece taxpayers,” Opinion, June 15).

  • Readers Write 6/21

    GOVERNMENT Thanks for exposing stimulus funds’ misuse Regarding “Ga. mishandles job funds” (News, June 17), thank you for your informative (and yet disheartening) revelations concerning Georgia’s poor handling of $23 million in federal stimulus grants.

  • Readers Write 6/20

    ETHICS Morality’s good ol’ days? They never existed Regarding “Anthony Weiner: Sign of moral decline or fleeting trifle?” (Opinion, June 16), Bill York may need a history lesson regarding his belief that the America of yesterday was any more moral than the one of today.

  • Readers Write 6/19

    HEALTH CARE Response to “When the treatment makes patients sick.” News, June 12 There was an interesting article in the June 12 AJC. The authors used Medicare data to compare Georgia hospitals. Why doesn’t the state of Georgia require some measure of hospital performance? Any private business would be well aware of their own and their main competitors’ performance measures.

  • Readers Write 6/17

    EDUCATION College chiefs get more at the expense of others Regarding “Despite budget cuts, three college presidents get salary boost” (ajc.com, June 14), each of these men would very likely agree that higher education is what builds a stronger America and a better future for not only the U.

  • Readers Write 6/16

    SOCIETY Everyone should be accountable to someone Edward Young’s letter “More wrecks to come if we exalt men over God” (Readers write, Opinion, June 13) is absolutely true. Everybody should be accountable to someone — to God first, but also to other human beings.

  • Readers Write 6/15

    IRAQ New government should reimburse the U.S. now Regarding “Iraq sees idea as ‘stupid’ ” (News, June 13), U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., suggested that once Iraq becomes prosperous, it could repay the U.

  • Readers Write 6/14

    IMMIGRATION New state law threatens farm labor, ag industry Recent reports in the AJC illustrate the perils new state immigration legislation imposes on Georgia’s economy. Perhaps the results of most concern are the shortage of farm labor and potentially devastating results for Georgia’s ag industry.

  • Readers Write 6/13

    FOOD SAFETY Congress needs to alter decades of bad policy While the E. coli outbreak in Europe raises the question of what we can do to prevent future outbreaks, the answer is not to adopt controversial technologies that are impractical and potentially unsafe.

  • Readers Write 6/12

    CEO PAY Response to “Lucrative paydays for corporate chiefs.” Business, June 5

    Congratulations to all the overpaid CEOs in your annual pay review (“Lucrative paydays for corporate chiefs,” Business, June 5).

  • Readers Write 6/10

    HEALTH CARE Rhetoric leaves behind the Republican faithful E.J. Dionne Jr.’s “Romney is the canary in the GOP coal mine” (Opinion, June 6) was on target. As an “Eisenhower Republican” (not in age, but philosophy), I continue to be left behind with the rhetoric that has transformed a once-great party.

  • Readers Write 6/9

    POLITICS Barr not in tune with environmental concerns I object to Bob Barr’s attack on my fellow Americans who happen to care about the environment, and question the long-term benefit to Americans of rash abuse of our Earth (“Environmentalists target Texas,” Opinion, June 6).

  • Readers Write 6/8

    SCHOOLS Superintendents’ perks run afoul of cost control Thank you for your great reporting. Every day I open the paper, I learn something important about Atlanta. “Cobb finalizes deal with new superintendent” (News, June 6) was a shock. After all the talk in government of a difficult economy and the need to control costs, Cobb has given its new superintendent a contract in which the salary alone puts him in with the top American earners — plus, he gets free money for a car (and its gas).

  • Readers Write 6/7

    HEALTH CARE Single payer is best solution for insurance The federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan is open to individuals denied coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition. After being denied by several providers, I found an affordable major medical policy similar to the group policy I used to have before losing my job that permanently excludes my pre-existing condition from coverage.

  • Education letters 6/6

    Accountability missing

    A front-page article on the need for recent graduates needing remedial classes was followed by a column about a young man failing to get a diploma because he was pushed through the system. Neither laid the responsibility of either failure where it belonged.

  • Readers Write 6/6

    NUTRITION Sports drinks can help replenish electrolytes Regarding “Study: Kids don’t need sports drinks” (Living, June 1), we agree that energy drinks and sports drinks are very different beverage choices. Sports drinks, however, have a long history of scientific research showing their benefits for hydration (which is necessary for overall health and wellness).

  • Readers Write 6/5

    ATLANTA

    A Georgia Tech student stopped to help us — then, an employee of a local hospital and Atlanta Police Officer Rollins. We were on I-75 near a Northside Drive exit recently when a left rear tire simply exploded, but we were able to get into the emergency right-hand lane safely.

  • Readers Write 6/3

    GOVERNMENT Handouts take away incentive to achieve Talk about hitting the nail on the head. Thomas Sowell’s column on entitlement was dead on (“Entitlement is a fancy word for dependency,” Opinion, May 31). If there is one issue that is dragging this country down financially and mentally, it is the government’s trying to be all things to all people.

  • Readers Write 6/2

    WATER Brewery workers go natural to save water On June 5, the U.N. will bring together communities around the globe for World Environment Day. Anheuser-Busch is a proud supporter of World Environment Day. We continually look for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle at our U.

  • Readers Write 6/1

    EMPLOYMENT No shame in any job done with honor, dignity I read in the AJC that over one million people applied last month for jobs at McDonald’s (“Fast-food jobs in higher demand,” News, May 31). Maybe people are realizing that the phrase, “do you want fries with that?” doesn’t sound so bad after all.

  • Readers Write 5/31

    EMERGENCY RESPONSE After a terrible fall,
an uplifting experience One minute, all was fine, and the next, Atlanta’s finest EMTs were taking care of me. While visiting my grandson recently, I took a very bad fall. 911 was called, and within minutes, help arrived.

  • Readers Write 5/30

    MEMORIAL DAY Blessed to have people who serve their country “When we don’t come home, tell them that we have sacrificed our today for their tomorrow.” I must have been 14 that weekend when my brother, an Army cadet, brought home a poster featuring these words and a picture of a helmet on top of a rifle.

  • Readers Write 5/29

    EDUCATION Response to “Hard Work 101 for today’s youth.” Opinion, May 22

    Regarding “Hard Work 101 for today’s youth” (Opinion, May 22), today’s unemployment problems have fallen hardest on those without a college education, and most of the uninsured fall into this same category.

  • Readers Write 5/27

    IMMIGRATION If business is not legal, then don’t be in business Regarding “Hospitality, agriculture fear the pain” (Opinion, May 24), I am always amazed when business owners justify the use of illegal immigrant labor. Do these benevolent businessmen provide health care for their employees and their families, or must they rely on the emergency room, Medicaid, or other taxpayer-funded programs? Do these benevolent business owners pay high salaries, or do they pay minimum wage or lower? Concerning the illegal immigrants who file income tax returns: are we to expect these returns result in taxes paid? There are many other questions that could be asked of these business owners — but the bottom line is, if you can’t run your business legally, you should not be in business.

  • Readers Write 5/26

    or fail — free of subsidies We are facing deficits that can and will cripple our nation if they are not addressed. Perhaps Congress should look at cutting subsidies. The government subsidizes products that cannot survive on their own (such as ethanol, biofuels and wind farms).