Driver Shakedown
Dear Editor,
What is the point of interstate highways/motorways/autobahns? The Germans who pioneered the concept understood the great economic and personal advantages that accrue from swift, seamless and free rapid transit between cities. The Autobahn system helped restore Germany to economic pre-eminence after the disastrous hyperinflation of the 1920s.
If you had told them to erect roadblocks every few miles and bring traffic to a complete halt in order to extract money from all the drivers, they would have laughed at you. Why build them at all? It defeats the purpose – and it’s dangerous.
But our government in its greed has decided to spend $600 million on a controversial new North Carolina toll infrastructure to shake down the driving public.
Raleigh’s rampant rapacity recently led them to begin stealing from the Highway Trust Fund by transferring money to the general fund – a fraud that is ongoing. If they weren’t such thieves, there would be plenty of money for road building.
We are not willing to serve as ATMs for government. Just ask Pat McCrory.
Austin Morris
Go Line-Item
Dear Editor,
President Trump wants Congress to allow him to use the line-item veto. I hope that Congress will give him this power, and I hope that the Supreme Court won’t rule that action to be unconstitutional. A line-item veto would allow a president, or governor, the right to veto some parts of a bill but leave the rest intact. This would prevent a situation where an executive signs a bill that has one big thing that he supports and a lot of little things that he is against. It would also give presidents the power to eliminate pork-barrel projects.
I also think that legislators should have the power of what I call line-item voting. I think that legislators should have the power to mark out parts of a bill that they are against so that they vote for only the parts that they want to become law. This would prevent a situation where a legislator has a bill that contains 10 things that he is for and 10 things that he is against. Would he vote for, or against, such a bill. Line-item voting would really change things.
Chuck Mann
Child v. Backpack
Dear Editor,
Student activist David Hogg was aghast at the thought of requiring school backpacks to be clear so that the contents cannot be hidden. He claims that this would violate the students’ privacy rights.
No one is talking about banning backpacks, just the opaque, military style backpacks that can be used to conceal any number of weapons including knives, guns or bombs.
Surely one child is worth more than all the backpacks in the world. If this change saves the life of just one child, we must do it. Right?
Dick Bostik
Defending Police
Dear Editor,
My letter is in response to those written by Austin Morris, who said the actions of a very few police officers are typical of every officer. I hope he will respond to my letter with specific answers to the questions I ask.
To me his letters are so sophomoric and full of absurd statements that I will not try to discuss all of them, just a few. He refers to all police officers as not of the Mother Teresa type. Is he a psychologist? Is he a psychiatrist? What are his qualifications to diagnose the personality characteristics of a large group of people?
Through the years I have been rear-ended three times and sideswiped another. In each instance the investigating officers treated both me and the offending parties with utmost respect. At no time did any of them show characteristics of “bullies with badges,” “high control,” “low intelligence,” etc. Also, I have been involved with an organization at which there were a few flare-ups necessitating a call to the police. Again, they handled the situation very professionally.
Frequently we read and hear of instances in which a police officer went well beyond the call of duty to assist someone. How can Mr. Morris be so blind to the real world?
I think his comments sound like they came from someone with a chip on his shoulder. Is it because of a speeding ticket he was issued?
When the police officer gave him the ticket, he/she may have saved Mr. Morris’ life. If he had been allowed to continue on speeding, he might have caused an accident with serious repercussions for him and possibly others.
I believe when police officers give tickets for speeding and running red lights and stop signs, and when they arrest individuals for driving under the influence, they help to prevent accidents with possible disastrous results.
For the record, I am not a police officer and no one in my family is. In fact, I do not even know a police officer. I am just an average Joe who is very appreciative of the competent men and women who risk their lives every day to protect my family and me, and Mr. Morris too.
Anonymous
SEAL Needs Mommy
Dear Editor,
I am a 19-year-old Guilford County high school graduate. I joined the United States Navy in the summer of 2016. Upon completion of basic training, I applied for and was accepted into SEAL training. Through hard work and perseverance, I have completed the 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school and the 28-week SEAL Qualification Training Program. I will be home in April for a brief break and would like to go turkey hunting with friends before returning for additional training and deployment.
I see where Dick’s Sports and Wal-Mart are restricting gun and ammunition sales to all under 21 years of age. I guess I will have to ask my mommy to take me to the store to buy shotgun shells so I can go hunting.
What in the #&!! has happened to common sense?
Anonymous
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